HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Computer Software

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, who decided on which days to migrate the IT accounts of hon. Members and hon. Members' staff to Office 365.

John Thurso: The Improved Access to Services Project Board agreed the high-level schedule for the migration of parliamentary e-mail boxes to Microsoft 365. The more detailed decision on which days to migrate the e-mail boxes of hon. Members and hon. Members' staff was taken by the project team, overseen by the Director of Parliamentary ICT, taking into account factors such as: mailbox access rights (so that users accessing a particular mailbox are migrated at the same time); staff who work for more than one Member; and trying to balance the number of e-mail boxes accessed by BlackBerry devices across the migration days.

Computer Software

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 176-7W, on computer software, what further feedback the Commission has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) hon. Members' staff and (c) other users on migration to Office 365 since that Answer was given.

John Thurso: In the period 22 June to 16 July, 3,482 mailboxes assigned to hon. Members and their staff had been migrated. In that period, PICT logged 766 cases from hon. Members and their staff—either by phone or at PICT Local—directly related to issues resulting from the migration of their mailboxes. Parliamentary ICT (PICT) acknowledges that the implementation has not been as simple and straightforward as was hoped, and is aware that it has caused problems for some hon. Members.
	Since the answer to the hon. Member on 8 July, three hon. Members have given PICT written feedback on the migration of their mailbox. One was complimenting the PICT team on making it a smooth process. One was questioning the process and the distinction between the upgrade to Office 2013 and the migration of a mailbox to Microsoft 365. One had a problem with the limit on the number of people who can be added to a single e-mail distribution list in Microsoft 365.
	Two further hon. Members have given positive oral feedback and asked to join the pilot of the wider suite of tools within Microsoft 365. Oral feedback from the teams of House staff who are also piloting the use of this wider suite of tools continues to be positive.
	The Director of PICT would be delighted to meet the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife, or any other interested Member, to discuss the feedback in more detail.

Computer Software

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, columns 176-7W, on computer software, what estimate the Commission has made of the (a) average and (b) aggregate amount of time spent by (i) hon. Members, (ii) Members' staff and (iii) others in migrating to Office 365.

John Thurso: The information is as follows.
	(a) Parliamentary ICT (PICT) estimates that, following the migration of a user’s mailbox to Microsoft 365, it takes the user’s computer (laptop or PC) an average of five minutes to reconfigure Outlook.
	It can take a user an average of approximately five minutes to reconfigure a mobile device—other than a BlackBerry—that uses ActiveSync to connect to parliamentary e-mail. Following that reconfiguration, it can take up to a maximum of 60 minutes for the device automatically to re-connect to parliamentary e-mail.
	BlackBerry devices need to be physically reconfigured by PICT, and this process can take over an hour—the length of time is linked to the age and model of the device. Furthermore, it takes longer to reconfigure a personal BlackBerry device than a BlackBerry issued by PICT. PICT has issued 92 BlackBerry devices for use by hon. Members and their staff to access parliamentary e-mail.
	(b) It is not possible to provide a figure for the aggregate time taken to reconfigure the above devices because more than one device can be reconfigured at the same time.

ICT

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many contractors supporting PICT and other information technology projects in the House have had their contracts (a) terminated and (b) not renewed due to poor performance.

John Thurso: PICT hold records of all contractors who have left PICT since April 2012. Since contractors are not employees—but employed via an agency or their own Limited Company—any records kept are brief. It is not usual practice to provide references and as a result, reasons for their departure are not recorded.
	The number of contractors whose contracts ended during this period has been follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2012-13 29 
			 2013-14 48 
			 2014-15 (to 30 June) 57

Parliament: Security

Mary Glindon: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, 
	(1)  when the procurement process for a new provider of the search and screening functions at Parliament's three main entrances is expected to commence;
	(2)  if he will publish the business case for the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme Board's recommendation that when the security contract with the Metropolitan Police Service for search and screening functions at the three main entrances of the Houses of Parliament ends on 31 March 2015, those functions should be provided by a specialised commercial provider;
	(3)  what the timetable is for the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme Board to draw up the specifications for the new contract to provide for search and screening functions at the three main entrances of the Houses of Parliament;
	(4)  how much the contract with Metropolitan Police Service to provide search and screening functions at the Houses of Parliament is expected to cost by the time it ends on 31 March 2015; whether any financial penalties have been incurred during the course of the contract; and whether the contract contains (a) a break clause and (b) an option to extend beyond March 2015.

John Thurso: The final decision about which organisation will provide security officer services from April 2015 has not yet been taken. Consequently, no procurement process for the provision of the search and screening function at the three main public entrances has begun and no date has been set. The parliamentary authorities continue to work in partnership with the Metropolitan police service (MPS) to agree and implement a mutually acceptable outcome. In October, the Parliamentary Security Director, as Chair of the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme (SARP) Board, will provide an update to committees of both Houses on progress made in negotiations with the MPS over the summer recess.
	The SARP business case will not be disclosed at this stage for commercial and security reasons. This is usual practice for such documents. A high-level statement of Parliament's requirements for security post-2015 was communicated to MPS in February, since when it has been refined in discussion with MPS. A much more detailed specification was sent to MPS in June. The parliamentary authorities are now negotiating with the MPS about the scope of services the MPS will provide.
	The expected overall cost of the current contract with the MPS, which is due to expire in March 2015, is £155,380,200. A breakdown of costs associated with the individual parts of the service, including the search and screening function, cannot be provided, on grounds of commercial sensitivity. No financial penalties have been incurred under the current contract, which does not contain a break clause. The contract includes an option to extend for a maximum period of two years if agreed by both parties.

Pay

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many officials employed by the House of Commons, of each grade, have remained at that grade since 2010 but received a pay rise; and how much of a rise each such person at each such grade has received.

John Thurso: 678 staff in the House of Commons have remained at the same pay band since 2010 and received a pay rise. These pay increases varied depending on factors including where the person fell in the pay band and length of service. Increases fell within the following ranges:
	£73-£8,388 in the A-E pay bands (520 people);
	£120-£380 in the Catering Service (134), and
	£318-£1,230 in the Senior Commons Structure (24).

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much and what proportion of the House of Commons Commission's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of the House of Commons Commission's budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

John Thurso: There are around 800 third party suppliers of services to the House of Commons and given system changes in recent years it would involve disproportionate cost to derive precise figures of contract expenditure by financial year. It is estimated that expenditure has broadly been equivalent to:
	
		
			  Amount (£ million) Proportion of spend (%) 
			 2009-10 92.7 32.6 
			 2010-11 87.4 47.4 
			 2011-12 90.7 43.1 
			 2012-13 89.0 40.9 
			 2013-14 83.7 37.0 
		
	
	For 2014-15 the planned amount is around £100 million which represents 40.8% of the combined capital and resource budget.

WALES

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office has identified no duplicate payments since 2010.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Administrative Scheme for the “On the Runs” Independent Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to publish the names of the 228 on-the-runs with comfort letters after the publication of the Hallett Report; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  following the publication of the Hallett Report, if she will now publish the names of the 228 on-the-runs who received comfort letters.

Theresa Villiers: Lady Justice Hallett did not publish the names of OTRs in her report, with the exception of John Downey. She was clear that her decision not to do so was not
	“a result of any ‘whitewash’”
	but rather,
	“as a matter of law”
	She
	“was not entitled to do so”.
	Indeed, she has been
	“scrupulously careful not to reveal details of offences in which any OTR was a suspect… so as not to prejudice any future criminal trials”.
	In the same way, and as I made clear in answering questions following my statement on 17 July about the report, I will not release the personal information of those involved in the scheme nor any other information which might prejudice any future trials. As Lady Justice Hallett has said, people
	“would not thank me if I inadvertently contributed to another successful abuse of process investigation”.

Administrative Scheme for the “On the Runs” Independent Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to paragraph 10.52 of the Report of the Hallett Review, if she will publish the names of the 13 on-the-runs who have benefited from the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

Theresa Villiers: Lady Justice Hallett concluded that she should not publish the names of OTRs (with the exception of John Downey) because she had been provided with this information on a confidential basis.
	I do not propose to release the names of those whose cases were considered under the OTR administrative scheme. This is partly because of legal issues around data protection, etc, but also because publication of names might have a prejudicial effect on possible future criminal trials.
	The assessment of my Department is that to release the names of individuals granted the RPM years ago would not be appropriate, given the time that has passed since the RPM was last used and the potential legal issues this would raise. There are of course means by which names of RPM recipients become public, including in the course of legal proceedings, which is a matter for the courts.

Belfast Harbour

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in what ways she is supporting the Northern Ireland Executive in maximising the potential of Belfast port.

Theresa Villiers: Earlier in the year I met with the Government Shipping and Ports Minister to discuss how best to support work on maximising the potential of Belfast Port. I recently visited the Port and discussed this work with the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for Regional Development and the Chairman of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.
	As set out in Building a Prosperous and United Community: One Year On, the Government will continue to support the Executive in its work on maximising the potential of Belfast Port. This will include sharing further information about the announced reforms at the Port of Dover and their implementation.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Andrew Murrison: My Department does not hold records of duplicate supplier payments. The system currently operating in the Northern Ireland Office registers invoice numbers and will not allow two invoices with the same reference number to be paid. To manually search through the invoices received and paid from 2010 to date would incur disproportionate cost.

Buildings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gymnasium and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration in (i) her Department and (ii) buildings owned by her Department in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.

Theresa Villiers: Departmental records and accounts indicate that no expenditure has been incurred on any of the matters set out in the question during the specified period except for some repair works at Hillsborough Castle needed because of damage caused by a water leak. As not all invoices for this work have yet been received, the total cost is not yet known.

Business

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when she next plans to meet the (a) CEO and (b) chair of the British Business Bank to discuss how that organisation can more effectively support Northern Ireland businesses.

Theresa Villiers: I hold regular discussions with representatives of the British Business Bank, the most recent of which took place in Belfast on 9 July 2014.
	The autumn meeting of the Joint Ministerial Task Force on banking and access to finance, which I chair, will also include discussions about the implementation of Business Bank programmes in Northern Ireland.

Children: Abuse

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will commission a Northern Ireland-based inquiry on child abuse at Kincora; and if she will include it in either the current inquiry in Northern Ireland or the national inquiry into abuse in care homes.

Theresa Villiers: Horrific offences took place at Kincora Boys Home in Belfast which were the subject of criminal prosecutions and a judge-led inquiry.
	The new inquiry announced by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), on 7th July is currently being set up and its terms of reference are yet to be determined. The Home Secretary and I will consider carefully the representations made to it regarding its remit.

Elections

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions she has had with the Electoral Office on steps to ensure that the election count process for European and other elections held in Northern Ireland is faster and more efficient.

Andrew Murrison: I recently met the Chief Electoral Officer to discuss a range of issues, including steps that might be taken to ensure a faster count at elections held under the Single Transferable Vote in Northern Ireland. I have asked the Chief Electoral Officer to work closely with the Electoral Commission to explore ways to speed up the count process at PR-STV elections in Northern Ireland with a view to implementing any reforms in advance of the 2016 Assembly elections.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, columns 269-74W, on electoral register, what the registration rates were in each ward listed.

Andrew Murrison: The Electoral Office has provided me with the following table listing the estimated registration rates for the 100 wards in Northern Ireland with the highest electoral registration rates. These are based on population estimates based on the 2011 census and may under or overstate the true population from area to area. Because of these inaccuracies, some percentages exceed 100% and actual registration figures1 are therefore included alongside estimated population totals2 for these wards.
	
		
			 Ward Parliamentary constituency Registration rate (%) 
			 Creggan 2352122402 Newry and Armagh 105.0 
			 Creggan South 1751117032 Foyle 102.8 
			 Florence Court and Kinawley 20511 20042 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 102.3 
			 Donagh 1876118412 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 101.9 
			 Cairnshill 2738126912 Belfast South 101.7 
			 Katesbridge 2005119732 South Down 101.6 
		
	
	
		
			 Saintfield 27081 26722 Strangford 101.3 
			 Tempo 2006119812 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 101.3 
			 Brookeborough 1850118352 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 100.8 
			 Termon 1776117722 West Tyrone 100.2 
			 Killeen 2078120742 Newry and Armagh 100.2 
			 Shantallow East 1880118782 Foyle 100.1 
			 Rosslea Fermanagh and South Tyrone 99.8 
			 Bannside South Down 99.7 
			 Killylea Newry and Armagh 99.7 
			 Owenkillew West Tyrone 99.7 
			 Lower Glenshane Mid Ulster 99.6 
			 Ballynashallog Foyle 99.6 
			 Fairy Water West Tyrone 99.5 
			 Belcoo and Garrison Fermanagh and South Tyrone 99.4 
			 Poyntz Pass Newry and Armagh 99.4 
			 Grange North Antrim 99.2 
			 Lisnarrick Fermanagh and South Tyrone 99.1 
			 Ballymartrim Newry and Armagh 99.1 
			 Loughbrickland Upper Bann 99.1 
			 Drumnakilly West Tyrone 98.9 
			 Donaghmore South Down 98.8 
			 Hamiltonsbawn Newry and Armagh 98.8 
			 Quilly Lagan Valley 98.6 
			 Eden East Antrim 98.4 
			 Parkgate South Antrim 98.3 
			 Camlough Newry and Armagh 98.2 
			 Altmore Mid Ulster 98.2 
			 Binnian South Down 98.1 
			 Ballycolman West Tyrone 97.8 
			 Craigywarren North Antrim 97.8 
			 Lecumpher Mid Ulster 97.8 
			 Magheralin Upper Bann 97.6 
			 Ballinamallard Fermanagh and South Tyrone 97.5 
			 Derrynoose Newry and Armagh 97.5 
			 Maghaberry Lagan Valley 97.4 
			 Newtownsaville West Tyrone 97.3 
			 Silver Bridge Newry and Armagh 97.3 
			 Oaklands Mid Ulster 97.3 
			 Ballymaguigan Mid Ulster 97.2 
			 Gulladuff Mid Ulster 96.9 
			 Carrowreagh Belfast East 96.9 
			 Loughgall Newry and Armagh 96.8 
			 Knockagh East Antrim 96.8 
			 Bleary Upper Bann 96.7 
			 Forkhill Newry and Armagh 96.7 
			 Tullyhappy Newry and Armagh 96.6 
			 Springtown Foyle 96.6 
			 Dunminning North Antrim 96.6 
			 Plumbridge West Tyrone 96.4 
			 Castlecaulfield Fermanagh and South Tyrone 96.4 
			 Newtownbutler Fermanagh and South Tyrone 96.4 
			 Audley's Acre South Down 96.4% 
			 Charlemont Newry and Armagh 96.4% 
			 Maguiresbridge Fermanagh and South Tyrone 96.3% 
			 Dromore West Tyrone 96.3% 
			 Dunnamore Mid Ulster 96.2% 
			 Waringstown Upper Bann 96.1% 
			 Beragh West Tyrone 96.1% 
			 Pennyburn Foyle 96.1% 
			 Tollymore South Down 96.0% 
			 Drumquin West Tyrone 96.0% 
			 Hockley Newry and Armagh 95.9% 
			 Jordanstown East Antrim 95.9% 
			 Ballymaconnell North Down 95.9% 
		
	
	
		
			 Ballyhoe and Corkey North Antrim 95.8% 
			 Cavehill Belfast North 95.8% 
			 Augher Fermanagh and South Tyrone 95.7% 
			 Galgorm North Antrim 95.7% 
			 Hillsborough Lagan Valley 95.7% 
			 Upper Glenshane East Londonderry 95.7% 
			 Artigarvan West Tyrone 95.7% 
			 Toome South Antrim 95.7% 
			 Glenravel North Antrim 95.6% 
			 Banagher East Londonderry 95.6% 
			 Creggan Central Foyle 95.6% 
			 Forest East Londonderry 95.6% 
			 The Birches Upper Bann 95.6% 
			 Fathom Newry and Armagh 95.6% 
			 Collinbridge Belfast North 95.5% 
			 Carncastle East Antrim 95.5% 
			 Clanabogan West Tyrone 95.5% 
			 Glenarm East Antrim 95.5% 
			 Lisbane Strangford 95.5% 
			 Foyle Springs Foyle 95.5% 
			 Bellaghy Mid Ulster 95.4% 
			 Ballydown Upper Bann 95.4% 
			 Killycolpy Mid Ulster 95.4% 
			 Ringsend East Londonderry 95.4% 
			 Draperstown Mid Ulster 95.4% 
			 Derrytrasna Upper Bann 95.3% 
			 The Loop Mid Ulster 95.3% 
			 Knocknashane Upper Bann 95.3% 
			 Ballynure South Antrim 95.3% 
			 Newtownhamilton Newry and Armagh 95.2%

Northern Ireland Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment she has made of the level of political stability in Northern Ireland.

Theresa Villiers: The Northern Ireland Assembly is now over half way through its second term since the restoration of devolution in 2007 which of itself is a significant achievement. However, there is an urgent need to make progress on dealing with divisive issues such as flags, parading and the past. The Government also believes that implementation of welfare reform by the Executive is very important.
	The Government will continue to press for progress on these matters.

Training

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on what (a) media training and (b) social media training for (i) her and (ii) Ministers in her Department since May 2010.

Theresa Villiers: The Northern Ireland Office have not purchased or provided any media or social media training for any (i) Secretaries of State or (ii) Ministers since May 2010.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The cost of paper and envelopes incurred in sending ministerial replies to hon. Members and others during the 2013-14 parliamentary session was £618.00.
	The information requested on postage costs is not available.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has any plans to increase the number of replies within his Department's working day standard; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions aims to reply to correspondence from hon. Members within 20 working days.
	The Cabinet Office publishes information on the performance of Departments and agencies on handling correspondence from Members and peers annually by way of a written ministerial statement. The most recent information for 2013, was announced in the written ministerial statement made by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 17WS.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the average employment and support allowance payment was in each year since 2008;
	(2)  what the average employment and support allowance payment made to claimants aged over 50 was in 2013.

Mark Harper: The information as requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance, average weekly amount in payment 
			 Date All ages Aged over 50 
			 November 2008 61.17 64.20 
			 November 2009 73.66 76.40 
			 November 2010 81.71 83.76 
			 Novrmber 2011 90.55 91.73 
			 November 2012 103.02 104.17 
			 November 2013 109.97 111.83 
			 Notes: 1. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny. 2. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment and support allowance (ESA) from October 2008. 3. Figures shown do not include ‘nil payment’ cases. 4. Data is as at November in each year shown. Source: DWP In Information Governance and Security Directorate 100% WPLS

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost of processing employment and support allowance claims has been in each year since 2008.

Mark Harper: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Unit costs 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 ESA new claims 46.30 40.99 26.14 22.41 25.47 25.09 
		
	
	This is the end of year average unit cost for ESA new claims.
	ESA started from October 2008.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants aged over 50 have been (a) referred to and (b) secured a sustained job outcome from the Work programme; and, of those, how many have secured sustained job outcomes.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of Work programme referrals, job outcomes and sustained job outcomes for employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants aged over 50, Great Britain, 1 June 2011 to 31 March 2014 
			  Referrals Job outcomes Sustained job outcomes 
			 Total for all ESA prognosis customer groups 70,740 2,660 2,490

Food Banks

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional assistance the Government gives to people using food banks to enable them to find work or additional hours of work; and if he will make funds available to food banks to enable them to do more to help their clients to find work.

Esther McVey: Jobcentres provide support to all claimants to find work.
	In April 2013, funding for crisis loans and community care grants (previously part of the Social Fund) was transferred to local authorities, to enable them to extend their services in a way that best meets local needs. As such, local authorities may choose to fund food banks if they consider that this would benefit their local community.

Funeral Payments

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what average time is taken to process an application for funeral expenses from the Social Fund from the time an application is submitted to a decision being taken.

Steve Webb: The clearance time for Funeral Payments, as published in the 2012-13 Social Fund annual report, is an average of 14.76 days, against a target of 16 days.

Guaranteed Minimum Pensions

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to equalise guaranteed minimum pensions.

Steve Webb: The Government is working with the industry to support schemes in their obligation to ensure that equal pension benefits are paid to men and women, taking into account the effect of the guaranteed minimum pension.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants have declined to move into a property with fewer bedrooms, having been offered that option of doing so under the Government's under-occupancy penalty policy.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Legal Costs

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on legal fees in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Steve Webb: The following figures detail the Department’s spend on external legal costs incurred for the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. These figures include all invoices for fees authorized by the Department’s internal legal services, including but not limited to the case management services provided by the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, external legal representation and external training and professional development of the Department’s legal service. The figures represent actual cost to the Department and therefore only include VAT to the extent such VAT is irrecoverable. The difference in the figures between 2011-12 and later years is largely as a result of DWP prosecutions work being transferred to the Crown Prosecution Service in April 2012.
	
		
			  External legal costs (£ million) 
			 2010-11 13.59 
			 2011-12 14.45 
			 2012-13 9.38 
			 2013-14 7.718

Occupational Health

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many bids he has received from companies tendering for the delivery of the Health and Work Service; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The tender round is still in progress. As a consequence, at this stage the information requested is not yet available and therefore cannot be disclosed.

Pension Credit

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the impact assessment of the single-tier pension published in October 2013, if he will make an estimate of how many people reaching state pension age after implementation of the single-tier pension in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland would have been eligible for savings credit in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2030 had savings credit not been abolished.

Steve Webb: The full rate of the new State Pension will give an income above the basic means test, rewarding retirement income saving.
	It is estimated that in 2020 around 10% of pensioner households receiving the new State Pension, around 200,000 benefit units, in Great Britain would be eligible for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit if it had not been removed for people who reached State Pension age after the introduction of new State Pension in April 2016.
	By 2030, it is estimated that 15% of the new State Pension households, around 1 million benefit units, would be in this position.
	Not all of these people would take up their eligibility to Savings Credit. The Department estimates that take-up amongst people eligible for only the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit is between 43% and 48%.
	Breakdowns of the impact analysis by country or region within Great Britain are not available.
	It is estimated that retaining Savings Credit for all pensioners and uprating it line with earnings would lead to additional annual costs in the UK of around £2 billion in 20 years' time.

Personal Independence Payment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy to publish the personal independence payment application form on his Department’s website in an interactive form; what assessment he made of the difficulties claimants have in completing those forms in long hand; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The Personal Independence Payment application form is normally completed by telephone although we are committed to providing an on-line PIP claim and the Department is working with disability representative organisations to develop a secure and accessible on-line service. More information about the Department's Digital Strategy launched in December 2012 is available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-digital-strategy
	Once we have established the claimant has met basic entitlement conditions relating to age and residence, a form called ‘How your disability affects you’ and an information booklet will be issued by post. The claimant can use this form to describe in their own words how their health condition or disability affects their daily life using a combination of free text and tick boxes, and has one calendar month to return it. The 'How your disability affects you' questionnaire was tested with claimants who have a range of health conditions and impairments, to ensure it was easier to complete than the DLA claim form.
	These forms can be filled in with the support of friends, carers and family members. Claimants can approach support organisations to help them. Additional support is available through the DWP Visiting Service for claimants who are in vulnerable situations and do not have anyone to help them.

Personal Independence Payment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment his Department made of the staffing levels required to efficiently process the transfer of employment and support allowance claimants to the personal independence payments claims;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the main reasons for the time taken to process personal independence payment claims;
	(3)  what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to (a) process claims for personal independence payments and (b) receive a work capability assessment appointment.

Mark Harper: Claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) are not being asked to claim personal independence payment (PIP). PIP was introduced in April 2013 to replace disability living allowance (DLA) for working age people (between 16 and 64-years-old) and operates an entirely separate assessment from the work capability assessment used for ESA claims. From October 2013 we have begun inviting some existing claimants of DLA to claim PIP. The current arrangements for this can be found on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-personal-independence-payment-toolkit-for-partners/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit-for-partners
	We are continuously looking at ways to increase the number of decisions made on PIP claims and to improve the claims process.
	Internal DWP processes and the assessment part of the process are taking longer than expected and some claimants are taking longer than anticipated to return their claim forms but we are working closely with both PIP assessment providers as part of our plans to speed up the end to end claimant journey. We have introduced improvements in communications to claimants about the type of evidence they can supply to speed up their claim and we are taking action to support the assessment providers in clearing backlogs of work.

Personal Independence Payment

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2014, Official Report, column 110W, on personal independence payment, if he will estimate the number of people who do not currently claim disability living allowance who go into debt while their claims for personal independence payment are pending.

Mark Harper: We have no plans to carry out such an estimate. As referenced in the earlier answer from the former Minister for Disabled People, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), most people claiming personal independence payment (PIP) will already be receiving some element of financial support to meet day-to-day living expenses. If entitlement to PIP is established, payment will be backdated.

Personal Independence Payment

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 278W, on personal independence payments, what his Department's definition is of a mature system; and how he proposes that the maturity of the system will be measured.

Mark Harper: The publication of any new statistics series needs to ensure that it is based on robust data and the measures reflect the system that is being delivered and latest performance. The Department’s statisticians are currently looking at developing measures around clearance times and will pre-announce future publication in line with the UK Statistics Authority protocols.

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish the guidance issued by his Department to Atos Healthcare on Part 2, Regulation 7 of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013.

Mark Harper: The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210722/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new claims for personal independence payments that were refused on application were subsequently allowed on appeal in the last 12 months.

Mark Harper: The information requested is not available. The Personal Independence Payment statistics release strategy, which the Department has made available on Gov.Uk, explains how DWP will manage the release of statistics and related information on Personal Independence Payment. This document explained that future releases may be extended to include numbers of reconsideration and appeals.
	The Ministry of Justice publish Tribunal quarterly statistics on Gov.Uk, this includes information on appeals against PIP decisions.

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claims for personal independence payments are outstanding.

Mark Harper: Statistics on the number of claims outstanding are not routinely derived or published.
	PIP statistics published on 5 June 2014 showed that by the end of March 2014, 349,000 PIP new claims had been registered and 83,900 PIP new claim decisions had been made. There are several reasons why a registered claim may not yet be determined. For example, the claimant has not yet returned their additional information form or is awaiting their assessment date, DWP have not yet made a decision on their claim or the claimant has advised that they wish to withdraw their claim.

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new claims for personal independence payments have been successful since April 2013.

Mark Harper: The available information on successful claims to personal independence payment was published on 5 June and is available from the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-june-2014

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claimants of personal independence payment have not received a decision within 26 weeks of the date of their claim.

Mark Harper: Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication and the Department’s analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release.

Personal Independence Payment: Brighton

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions where people from Brighton and Hove are being asked to travel to in order to have face-to-face personal independence payment (PIP) interviews; what assessment he has made of the range of challenges faced by people going for assessment for PIP payments who are asked to travel to another town for a face-to-face interview; if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of taxis for people from Brighton and Hove who cannot use public transport to get to PIP assessments up to 90 minutes away from their homes; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Harper: There are currently two assessment centres situated in the BN21 and BN41 postcode area. A third assessment centre based in the BN3 postcode will be opening shortly.
	PIP assessment providers must ensure that claimants do not have to travel for more than 90 minutes by public transport (single journey) for a consultation. This limit is an absolute maximum and we expect that only a small minority of claimants will have to make a journey approaching this duration. In the exceptional circumstance where a claimant is unable to make a journey within 90 minutes via public transport the assessment provider will offer either a home visit or the ability to use a taxi.
	We are encouraging assessment providers to identify consultation venues that are as local and convenient as possible.
	Payment of claimant expenses including taxi fares is the responsibility of the PIP assessment provider, the Department does not meet these costs.
	This information is therefore not available within the Department.

Public Expenditure

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) mobile telephones, (b) tablet computers and (c) office furniture in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions is a geographically-dispersed organisation employing around 90,000 staff across some 870 sites, delivering services directly to around 22 million customers.
	Expenditure on mobile phones was £111,074 in 2010-11; £85,353 in 2011-12; and £196,427 in 2012-13.
	Expenditure on tablet computers in 2010-11 and 2011-12 was nil. For 2012-13 I refer to the reply to PQ 151349 given to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) on 16 April 2013, Official Report, column 288W.
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130416/text/130416w0001.htm#1304171000035
	The Department occupies the majority of its estate under a private finance initiative known as the PRIME Contract. Under this contract, the Department leases back fully-serviced accommodation from its private sector partner Telereal Trillium. The Department pays an inclusive unitary price for the space occupied, which includes the provision of office furniture. For those buildings and furniture requirements outside the scope of the PFI contract, the Department’s spend in 2010-11 was £603,686; 2011-12 was £537,468 and 2012-13 was £548,227. The Department’s estates rationalisation programme has saved some £60 million in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Public Expenditure

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on (a) accommodation, (b) taxis or private cars and (c) alcoholic beverages in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

Steve Webb: The Department is a geographically-dispersed organisation employing around 90,000 staff across some 870 sites, delivering services directly to around 22 million customers. The following table shows the expenditure on accommodation and taxis for the years in question. The average spend per head on accommodation for 2012-13 was in the region of £70.
	The expenditure on taxis includes reimbursement of the cost of actual fares to support our disabled staff travelling to and from their place of work.
	
		
			 £ 
			  (a) Accommodation (b) Taxi 
			 2010-11 6,932,231 1,539,581 
			 2011-12 5,281,218 1,201,506 
			 2012-13 6,571,462 1,288,034 
		
	
	In the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 the Department’s spend on hotels under the previous Administration was £11,264,324 and £11,694,697 respectively. This has almost halved under this Administration. Spend on taxis for the year 2009-10 was £1,526,863.
	As the purchase of alcohol is exceptional, there is no separate finance code to identify this spend.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect on claimants of extending the waiting-day period for new benefit claims from three to seven days; and whether he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: The principle behind the waiting days policy is that benefits are not intended to provide financial support for very brief breaks in employment or periods of sickness. The waiting days change should not be seen in isolation but as part of a package of new support measures designed to help people to return to work. Our assessment of the effects of the change is continuing.

Social Security Benefits: Banff

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in Banff and Buchan constituency whose incomes from benefit payments have reduced by (a) 10 per cent, (b) between 20 and 49 per cent and (c) 50 per cent or more since May 2010.

Esther McVey: The requested information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Perth

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in Perth and North Perthshire constituency whose incomes from benefit payments have reduced by (a) 10 per cent, (b) between 20 and 49 per cent and (c) 50 per cent or more since May 2010.

Esther McVey: The requested information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on how many claims for benefits made by telephone by people in Preston constituency in 2014 to date were interrupted by the claimant running out of credit.

Steve Webb: The requested information is not available from current Management Information systems as no information relating to the causes of call terminations is gathered. As such, it is not possible to distinguish between reasons for termination or to distinguish between calls terminated by agents or callers.
	The current Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) policy is that all calls should be free to our 0800 numbers to claim:
	State pension;
	Pension credit;
	Jobseekers' allowance;
	Income support;
	Employment support allowance; and,
	Personal independence payment.
	It is free to call DWP 0800 numbers from all major landline providers.
	DWP continues to have agreements with 02, Everything Everywhere (formerly Orange and T-Mobile), Vodafone (including Cable and Wireless), Three (also known as Hutchison 3G), Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile ahead of the OFCOM changes due in June 2015. This agreement allows many of our customers to make free mobile phone calls from their participating networks to the Department's 0800 customer numbers.
	DWP is aware of possible concerns about call charges to enquiry and claims lines so agents will routinely offer to call a customer back if concerns are raised over the cost of the call. The Department also provides controlled access to telephones for claimants if required in support of job-searches or benefit enquiries.
	During June 2014 the average duration of a call to the primary benefit new claims lines (ESA, IS and JSA) from connection to termination was 14 minutes and 43 seconds.

State Second Pension

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many men aged 65 receive additional state pension after a contracted-out deduction is applied.

Steve Webb: The number of men aged 65 who receive additional state pension after a contracted-out deduction is applied, as at September 2013, is 194,900.
	Contracted out deductions are applied to additional state pension where people were contracted out between 1978 and 1997.
	Notes:
	1. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. The 5% sample data provides some detail not available from the 100% data sources. DWP recommends that, where the detail is only available on the 5% sample data, the proportions derived should be applied to the overall 100% total for the benefit. Figures have been adjusted in line with 100% data.
	Source:
	Department for Work and Pensions, Information, Governance and Security Directorate, 5% sample

Universal Credit

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many officials are currently working on the universal credit programme.

Mark Harper: Current resource data shows a full time equivalent of 465 staff currently working on the Universal Credit Programme.

Work Capability Assessment

Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to his Department is of each work capability assessment carried out by Atos Healthcare (a) on paper and (b) through a face-to-face consultation; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Harper: The information you requested is commercially sensitive and releasing details of the unit cost of each assessment would, or would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of Atos Healthcare.

Work Capability Assessment: Devon

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that the backlog for work capability assessments in Plymouth and Devon is reduced.

Mark Harper: We announced last summer that we are procuring a new provider to deliver Work Capability Assessments. The priority for the new provider will be to deliver the best service possible for claimants, increase the volume of assessments carried out and reduce waiting times.
	In the meantime, we have been working closely with Atos to improve their performance and reduce waiting times; putting in place a remedial adviser team to work with them to find further ways of meeting or exceeding performance as well as making changes to better manage the flow of work between Atos and the Department.
	These measures are taking effect and the volume of outstanding cases is now reducing.

Work Programme

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department takes to promote the use of IT facilities in public libraries by participants in the Work programme for job search and preparation; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Work programme providers have flexibility to innovate and to design support that addresses the needs of individuals and the local labour market, rather than having to follow one size fits all processes. It is at the discretion of providers whether they choose to advise individuals to use any particular public facilities.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to HM Government was of helping to deliver equipment to the Kajaki Dam project in Afghanistan.

Mark Francois: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Animal Experiments

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many research experiments his Department has performed on animals since May 2010; and for what purpose and on which types of animal such experiments have been performed.

Philip Dunne: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) returns the number of procedures involving animals to the Home Office on an annual basis in accordance with UK legislation. Details of the Annual DSTL returns to the Home Office from 2010 to 2013 are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Animal species (type)  
			  Rodents Pigs Non-human primates Other Rabbits Total 
			 2010 9,007 140 244 — 47 9,438 
			 2011 9,490 88 68 — 76 9,722 
			 2012 8,616 75 114 9 16 8,830 
			 2013 6,156 108 193 — 4 6,461 
		
	
	DSTL Porton Down conducts less than half of 1% of the animal experimentation carried out in the UK.
	DSTL is proud of the research undertaken by its staff and believes that the remit to provide safe and effective protective measures for the UK and its armed forces against the threat posed by chemical and biological weapons and enhance the treatment of conventional casualties on the battlefield, could not currently be achieved without the use of animals.
	The main areas of use are as follows: regulatory testing; medical countermeasures to biological agents; medical countermeasures to chemical agents; provision of tissue; hazard assessment; treatment and decontamination of chemical agents; medical management and surgical care; detection and identification of biological weapons.
	Each of the procedures has been undertaken in strict accordance with the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. DSTL Porton Down is licensed to conduct research involving animals by the Home Office.

Apache AH-64 Helicopter

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when his Department will announce a decision on the future of the Apache helicopter upgrade;
	(2)  what weighting his Department will give to (a) UK content, (b) UK employment and (c) a wider strategy of support for the UK helicopter production industry in taking a decision on the future of the Apache helicopter upgrade.

Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence is considering a number of options to sustain the attack helicopter capability. No decision has yet been taken on the procurement strategy.

Armed Forces Independence Payment

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many new claims for armed forces independence payment have been made since April 2013.

Julian Brazier: As at 18 July 2014, a total of 766 claims have been received and granted for the armed forces independence payment. Four claims are currently being considered.

Armed Forces Independence Payment

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are currently in receipt of the armed forces independence payment.

Philip Dunne: There are currently 762 people in receipt of the Armed Forces Independence Payment.

Armed Forces: Crimes of Violence

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many investigations of allegations of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) domestic violence where the alleged offending took place in the UK were investigated by the Royal Military Police in (A) 2010, (B) 2011 and (C) 2012.

Anna Soubry: The table shows the number of recorded investigations by the Royal Military Police for rape, sexual assault and domestic violence where the alleged offending took place in the UK in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
	
		
			  Rape Sexual assault 
			 2010 - 25 
			 2011 5 20 
			 2012 5 15 
		
	
	The figures have been rounded to the nearest five. The figure “-” represents a sample of less than five. The specific figure has not been disclosed to ensure that the alleged victim(s) cannot be identified. This is in line with the Sexual Offences (Amendments) Act 1976 and 1992.
	Because of the way domestic violence statistics are recorded it is taking some time to collate the information. I will write to the hon. Member with an answer shortly.
	The Royal Military Police is the Army’s police force and together with its Royal Navy and Royal Air Force counterparts, are collectively known as the Service Police. Under Home Office Circular 028/2008, which defines investigative jurisdiction in the UK, primacy generally rests with the civilian police, although the Service Police may take the lead in an investigation if both the suspect and the victim in a particular case are serving members of the armed forces.
	Substantive answer from Anna Soubry to Emily Thornberry:
	I undertook to write to you following your two recent Parliamentary Questions relating to domestic violence. I explained that because of the way domestic violence statistics are recorded it would take some time to collate the information. Having consulted further with my officials I have been advised that providing the information would be disproportionate cost and even if the work was completed it would not provide an accurate representation of domestic violence statistics.
	Domestic violence is not a crime classification, but may be recorded under the crime classification of violence for example battery, assault or grievous bodily harm. For the Service Police to establish which offences are as a result of domestic violence would require an individual review of all cases; this would be disproportionate cost. Nor would the work produce accurate statistics because a victim of domestic violence may choose to report the matter to either the Service Police or the Civil police. For instance, if the victim lived in a garrison town such as Colchester, they may be more likely to report the matter to the Service Police, whereas if the victim lived in a non-garrison town such as Nottingham, they may be more likely to be report the incident to the Civil Police. There is no restriction on how or to whom the victim makes their complaint and therefore both Police Forces are likely to be investigating offences relating to domestic violence.
	Domestic violence is a very important issue and we treat allegations of domestic violence very seriously. I would like to reassure you that where an allegation of domestic violence is made to the Service Police and they retain jurisdiction, they will investigate the matter fully or if an allegation is being investigated by the Civil Police, the Service Police will provide assistance as required. Equally, it is essential that victims of domestic violence are supported properly and the Department recognises the importance of the support offered by domestic violence charities, and our policy is to engage with such charities as Woman's Aid, Refuge, Respect and Victim Support as appropriate. You may also wish to be aware that the Department's policy on dealing with domestic violence is set out in Tri-Service Policy on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces have faced a court martial since 2010; and how many of those were serving in active combat roles at the time.

Julian Brazier: Information in respect of the number of armed forces personnel who have faced a court martial for the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2013 is detailed, by service, in the following table. Information for 2014 is not yet available.
	
		
			  Naval service Army Royal Air Force 
			 2010 76 546 36 
			 2011 63 623 33 
			 2012 66 520 17 
			 2013 59 425 28 
			 Note: Naval service includes the Royal Marines 
		
	
	Some information is held in respect of how many of those were serving on operations at the time of the alleged offence but will take time to collate, and the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Anna Soubry), will write to the hon. Member when it is available.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the uprating of the pensions of UK veterans living overseas.

Philip Dunne: The various Armed Forces Pension Schemes are occupational pension schemes and are uprated every April by the UK's Consumer Price Index from the previous September. There is no impact on this uprating if a former member of the Armed Forces is living overseas.

Army Reserve

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Army Reserve who returned injured from operations have accessed rehabilitation support.

Philip Dunne: 67 Army Reservists who returned from operations with injuries have accessed rehabilitation support.

Army: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to promote recruitment to the army cadets in Northern Ireland in 2014-15.

Julian Brazier: There are presently over 3,000 cadets in Northern Ireland of which over 2,000 are Army cadets. These cadets are drawn from across a wide spectrum of the community.
	The Reserve Forces and Cadets Association of Northern Ireland are planning to launch a new recruitment campaign in August working in partnership with a number of external agencies.

Army: Training

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the total cost of running Phase 1 training at AFC Harrogate including trainee salaries and associated costs was in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the total cost of running the Combat Infantryman's Course (Phase 1 and 2 training) at ITC Catterick including trainee salaries and associated costs was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 June 2014, Official Report, column 88W, to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon). In addition, the annual salary for new entrants is £14,492 rising to £17,945 on completion of Phase 1 training in 2014-15. The number of trainees may vary each year.

Buildings

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gym and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration within (i) his Department and (ii) his Department-owned buildings in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.

Philip Dunne: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Conflict Pool

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent from the Conflict Pool in each country in each year since its launch.

Julian Brazier: The tri-departmental Conflict Pool in its current form was created in 2010 and is financed from HM Treasury under the Conflict Resources settlement. It is managed tri-departmentally, with resources transferred to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to fund those projects the MOD will undertake. The Conflict Pool is managed on a regional programme, not country basis.
	The MOD has funded projects in all of the Conflict Pool’s five regional programmes: in Afghanistan; in Africa where activity has included work in Nigeria, Somalia and Kenya; in the Middle East and North Africa including projects in Syria, Libya and the Occupied Palestinian Territories; in South Asia where activity has mostly been in Pakistan; and activity through the Wider Europe programme in the Western Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Activity in all these programmes includes regional, cross-border and multilateral projects therefore data is not held on a purely country basis. The MOD also funds activity through the Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships programme (SAP).
	Regional and thematic figures by programme are in the following table.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 Africa 21,955,253 25,155,043 15,349,300 13,969,330 17,451,482 
			 Afghanistan 1,944,340 3,051,185 515,538 1,296,540 1,022,957 
		
	
	
		
			 MENA 2,896,937 2,675,774 3,371,921 3,804,968 10,945,265 
			 South Asia 7,124,261 8,661,400 1,305,900 305,364 494,011 
			 SAP1 3,516,826 2,124,898 2,074,708 3,123,000 3,790,000 
			 Wider Europe 22,606,731 20,576,782 19,722,746 19,777,805 19,693,366 
			 1 Strengthening Alliances and Partnerships programme; previously strategic support to International Organisations programme.

Defence: Procurement

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's (a) Ships Acquisition Model, (b) Maritime Composite Options Model, (c) Material Strategy: Change Programme Model, (d) Force Structure Cost Model and (e) Strategic Balance of Investment Toolset.

Philip Dunne: There is no single Ships Acquisition Model; each individual project will have its own procurement strategy, underpinned by EU procurement Regulations.
	The Maritime Composite Option was a workstream through which the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems negotiated how best to sustain the future shipbuilding programme, and the key elements of the agreement were announced by the then Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 6 November 2013, Official Report, columns 251-54. This is underpinned by a Commercial Principles Agreement and I am withholding this information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
	There is no document titled the Material Strategy Change Programme Model. However, on 14 May 2014, copies of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Corporate Plan and Framework Document were published internally, placed in the Library of the House and published on the gov.uk website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/search?q=DE%26S+framework+document
	The Corporate Plan sets out the DE&S strategic objectives and timelines for the next three years. The Framework Document includes the function and governance arrangements for the new DE and S, including the freedoms.
	I am withholding details of the Force Structures Cost Model and the Strategic Balance of Investment Model as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Disclosure of Information

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 14 November 2011, Official Report, column 526W, on disclosure of information, if he will publish the findings of the inquiry into the unauthorised disclosure of the letter between the former Secretary of State and the Prime Minister which appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 28 September 2010.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), gave on 23 May 2012, Official Report, column 722W.

Middle East

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment his Department has made of the UK's ability to mount persistent and enduring aerial surveillance of strategically important areas east of the Suez Canal after UK withdrawal from Afghanistan; what assets will be required for this purpose after 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The UK’s military presence east of the Suez Canal is routinely reviewed to ensure that we have the right capabilities to support and achieve our military tasks, such as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. UK forces contribute to a variety of counter-terrorism, counter-narcotic and security operations. Redeployment from Afghanistan will allow the reallocation of some of these assets to other priority tasks, which includes ISR support.

Public Expenditure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the Main Supply Estimates 2014-15, HC 1233 of Session 2013-14, for what reasons he seeks Parliamentary authority to appropriate £7.5 billion in capital expenditure instead of the £8.7 billion allocated in the June 2013 spending round; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: An explanation of the variance between the 2010 CSR settlement and main estimates 2014-15 was provided in written evidence to the Defence Committee and published on 24 June 2014:
	http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/defence-committee/mod-main-estimates-201415/written/10953.html

RAF Lossiemouth

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been to date of all Typhoon Force-related capital works at RAF Lossiemouth; and what estimate he has made of the total cost of facilitating the future operation of the Typhoon Force and the Northern Quick Reaction Alert facility at that base.

Mark Francois: By the end of financial year 2013-14, approximately £17 million had been spent on Typhoon-related works at Lossiemouth. The estimated capital costs for facilitating Typhoon Force-related operations, including the Northern Quick Reaction Alert facility, at RAF Lossiemouth is anticipated to be some £87 million.
	The Basing Review, which was announced in July 2011, assessed what was best for Defence as a whole. This followed the strategic defence and security review in 2010, which stated the RAF needed three not four RAF fast jet bases.
	The decisions made regarding RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth were also necessary to establish a coherent plan for basing the Army following its return from Germany and the opportunity to realise receipts by disposing of high value estate, while ensuring the build-up of the Typhoon force.

RAF Lossiemouth

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Typhoon Force mission-specific infrastructure at RAF Leuchars has been identified for deconstruction as a result of the transfer of the transfer of the Typhoon Force to RAF Lossiemouth.

Mark Francois: No Typhoon mission-specific infrastructure at RAF Leuchars has been identified for deconstruction, nor is it likely to be.

Reserve Forces

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reservists are signed up to offer security support to the Police Service of Scotland and other civil and Commonwealth Games authorities for this summer's Commonwealth Games.

Mark Francois: 229 reservists have been assigned to the Commonwealth Games in support of the Police Service of Scotland.

Senior Civil Servants

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many senior civil servants appointed to positions in his Department since 2010 were previously (a) political appointees within that Department and (b) employed by a political party.

Julian Brazier: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Staff

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's (a) Navy Manpower Model, (b) Army Manpower Model, (c) Royal Air Force Manpower Model, (d) Civilian Manpower Model and (e) New Employment Model.

Philip Dunne: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of the armed forces. Furthermore, under data protection legislation, the detailed personnel information contained within the models cannot be disclosed.
	Additionally, the model is based on computer programmes, which run on suitably accredited computers. Therefore, it is not possible to place a meaningful 'model' into the Library of the House.

Training

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals in his Department have participated in (a) disability awareness and (b) LGBT awareness training in each year since 2010.

Julian Brazier: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Administrative Scheme for the “On the Runs” Independent Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish the advice the Law Officers' Department gave to Lady Hallett on the lawfulness of the administrative scheme operated for the benefit of on-the-runs.

Robert Buckland: The then Attorney-General, the right hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve), and a member of the Attorney-General's Office gave evidence to the Hallett Inquiry but did so as witnesses rather than legal advisers. Lady Justice Hallett reached her own view on the lawfulness of the administrative scheme.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Attorney-General what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by the Law Officers' Departments since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Robert Buckland: The Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) does not hold a register of duplicate payments. Appropriate controls are in place to prevent duplicate payments and if any are identified, action is taken to recover overpaid monies. As at 18 July 2014, there are no known unrecovered duplicate payments.
	Identification of the value of duplicate payments made by TSol, the Attorney-General's Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate since 2010 would require detailed analysis of accounting and other records which would incur disproportionate cost. However, in the three months since April 2014, TSol have identified and recovered duplicate payments with a total value of £13,068 representing 0.05% of the value of payments made during this period.
	Available records show that, since April 2010, the Serious Fraud Office has identified and recovered £46,000 in duplicate supplier payments. No other duplicate payments have been identified.
	The following table shows the value of duplicate payments identified by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since 2009-10 and the proportion of such payments recovered in each of the last two financial years is presented in the following table:
	
		
			 Duplicate payments and recoveries, 2009-14 
			  Duplicate payments (£) Recovered proportion (%) 
			 2009-10 135,958 — 
			 2010-11 256,803 — 
			 2011-12 72,729 — 
			 2012-13 91,578 96.2 
			 2013-14 149,124 98.8

Buildings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Attorney-General how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gymnasium and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration in (i) the Law Officers' Departments and (ii) buildings owned by the Law Officers' Departments in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has not spent anything on refurbishment of gymnasiums, leisure facilities or cafeterias in 2013 or 2014. The CPS spent £149,780 in financial year 2013-14 on interior decoration on a mix of refurbishment and other works on premises on its estate. Nothing has been spent in the current financial year to date. The CPS did not spend anything on interior decoration on buildings that it owns in either period.
	The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) rents office space in a 1930s building in Cockspur Street. Its office has no gymnasium, leisure facilities or cafeteria. The SFO moved to this office in 2012-13 after it was refurbished to meet its needs. Any interior decoration was incidental to the overall refurbishment project. The SFO does not hold information on the proportion of refurbishment costs attributable to interior decoration.
	In 2013-14, the SFO took over an additional floor in the building containing its office in order to be able to accommodate staff dealing with some of its newly-opened major investigations. That floor, too, required refurbishment. Again, the SFO does not hold information on the proportion of the refurbishment costs attributable to interior decoration, but can indicate that the cost of painting existing walls amounted to £9,000 plus VAT. Nothing has been spent on interior decoration in 2014-15 to date.
	The Treasury Solicitor’s department (TSol) did not incur any expenditure on gymnasium or leisure facilities at its offices during the past two years.
	The floor in the main cafeteria within its main at One Kemble Street was replaced in April 2014 for health and safety reasons, at a cost of £42,282.55 (inclusive of VAT). No other refurbishment works have taken place in 2013 and 2014 within the cafeterias.
	Interior decorations undertaken within the three buildings leased by TSol are included in the annual service charge payable to the relevant landlord. In the One Kemble Street office, itemised works specific to TSol totalled £187 in 2013 and £0.00 to date in 2014. No interior decorative works have taken place in Croydon or Taunton.
	The HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate are tenants of TSol and based at the One Kemble Street building. They have not incurred any separate expenditure during the past two years.
	The Attorney-General’s Office (AGO) is based in one building in Victoria Street, which is leased. There has been no expenditure on gymnasium and leisure activities or on a cafeteria in 2013 or 2014 to date. AGO has incurred no expenditure on internal decoration in 2013 or 2014 to date.

Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown Prosecution Service (a) pre-charge decisions, (b) decisions to take no further action, (c) decisions to caution and (d) prosecutions there were in cases of (i) rape, (ii) domestic violence and (iii) child abuse in each police force area in each of the last six years; and what the conviction rate for each such offence in each such area was in that period.

Robert Buckland: Tables containing the information requested have been placed in the Library of the House.
	The volumes of pre-charge decisions, prosecutions and convictions rose in 2013-14 from the previous year, across rape, domestic violence and child abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service has worked with the police to address the previous fall in volumes which they identified in 2012-13; succeeding in an overall turnaround during 2013-14.
	The conviction rates for domestic violence and child abuse have risen to 74.6% and 76.2% respectively in 2013-14.
	In parallel, cautions fell to the lowest level ever for rape and domestic violence in the same time period; and decisions to take no further action also reached the lowest level ever for rape and child abuse.
	For rape, the volume of pre-charge decisions rose by 8% compared with the previous year, reaching 5,850. Decisions to take no further action fell to the lowest level ever—by 15% as compared with a rise in the volume charged of 25%, reaching the highest volume ever of 3,621 defendants. Prosecutions rose by 5% to 3,891 and the volume convicted has risen by 0.6%, reaching 2,348.
	The Director of Public Prosecutions addresses the regional variation across police force areas through the bi-annual Violence against Women and Girls Assurance scheme, highlighting where specific actions are detailed and targeted for improvement.

Prosecutions

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Attorney-General how many applications for a preliminary hearing for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (a) the Director of Public Prosecutions and (b) the Serious Fraud Office have made since 24 February 2014.

Robert Buckland: No such applications have been made so far.

Serious Fraud Office

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General if he will place in the Library the reports by Peter Mason and Alan Wood on data loss at the Serious Fraud Office published in June 2013; and which recommendations of those reports have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

Robert Buckland: In respect of Peter Mason's report I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor on 4 December 2013, Official Report, column 677W.
	Mr Mason returned in March 2014 to review progress and was able to give positive assurance to the Director that he could be confident that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) now has the right checks and balances in place to avoid a similar incident from occurring again.
	The Director of the SFO asked Alan Woods to provide feedback and assurance on processes and controls across the SFO, and to confirm that these were in good order with risks being properly addressed. This feedback was provided to the Director in September 2013. A programme of work has been introduced to oversee the implementation of recommendations made by Mr Woods.
	Neither Mr Mason's report or details of Mr Woods' feedback have been published because they contain operational information about the SFO.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Accountancy: Females

Luciana Berger: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities what assessment she has made of the auditing by accountancy firms of their appointment of women to their boards.

Jo Swinson: Government regulations (effective from 1 October 2013) apply to quoted companies in the UK to disclose the numbers of men and women on boards, in senior management and in the business as a whole. This aims to help companies to spot areas of talent block within their own organisations.
	We follow a voluntary approach in the UK to increase the numbers of women on boards and engage closely with organisations who are active on building the pipeline of female talent such as the 30% Club.
	In 2012, the 30% Club carried out research with one of the leading global management consulting firms, McKinsey & Company to aggregate results looking into the numbers of women in UK partnerships in Professional Services Firms. Their study made recommendations to help firms get more women to the top. Many of these firms including KPMG, Deloitte, Linklaters and PWC are members of the 30% Club (at Chairmen and CEO level) whose goals are to achieve better gender balance at all levels of an organisation.
	This approach complements the work and progress of the Lord Davies business-led initiative to achieve 25% of women on boards by 2015.

Public Expenditure

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities 
	(1)  how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on (a) plants and (b) wine in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on (a) outside catering and refreshments, (b) artwork and (c) televisions in each year since 2010.

Jo Swinson: The Government Equalities Office has not spent any money on plants, televisions or artwork over the past five years.
	The available information is in the following table:
	
		
			 Expenditure on catering and refreshments 
			 Financial year £ 
			 2013-14 3,666 
			 2014-15 3,328 
			 Notes: 1. GEO's transfers between Departments mean that the data is accessible only through a number of different legacy systems. Further detail could be provided only at disproportionate cost. 2. Expenditure on wine is included in the figures above; it is not recorded separately.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Israel/Palestine

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the situation in Israel and Palestine.

Tobias Ellwood: As the Prime Minister said in his comprehensive statement yesterday, we are clear that Israel has a right to defend itself against these attacks. No country would stand by as rockets are fired or terrorist tunnels are constructed into their territory. We are equally clear that Israel’s response must be proportionate, taking all necessary steps to minimise civilian casualties in line with International Humanitarian Law.

Air Displays: Farnborough

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he received on the decision to give permission to the Russian company Rosoboronexport to exhibit its military technology at the Farnborough International Air show in July 2014.

Tobias Ellwood: It is a commercial matter for Farnborough International Ltd (FIL) to whom they sell exhibition space, however the Prime Minister has not received any representations following their decision to allow Rosoboronexport to exhibit. In light of the continuing suspension of military cooperation with Russia, no representatives from the Russian Government were issued with Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) invitations to the event. Russia was also removed from the list of countries eligible to use post-exhibition Open General Export Licenses (OGELs). The organisers also took the decision to ensure that no Russian military hardware was displayed and that there was no Russian military participation in the flying display.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcomes were of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Mark Simmonds: The Global Summit had two primary objectives: to agree practical action to tackle impunity for the use of rape as a weapon of war, and to begin to change global attitudes to these crimes. The Summit set in motion a series of unprecedented practical steps and commitments. In addition, it significantly raised the profile of this issue and placed it firmly on the international policy agenda.
	During the Summit we launched the first ever International Protocol on how to document and investigate sexual violence in conflict as a means of overcoming one of the key barriers to prosecutions of these crimes and announced an ambitious plan to implement the Protocol. The Secretary of State announced £6 million in new UK funding to support survivors of rape, and the United States, Bahrain, Australia, Japan and others including European partners also made new pledges. The African Union announced a pilot project in the Central African Republic to respond to the urgent needs of victims of sexual violence, supported by the UK and Japan. In addition the Somali Government launched a new action plan, supported by the UN and the international community, for addressing sexual violence, which has blighted the lives of thousands there.
	Within the Summit we convened a special meeting on security in Nigeria, where violence against women and girls is a particular concern among the wider impact of Boko Haram. We agreed that a Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit should be made operational immediately. The countries of the region also agreed rapidly to implement joint or coordinated patrols along their borders and Cameroon committed to add a battalion to that regional task force. The UK, US and France pledged to support of these regional efforts. We announced a separate package of support for Nigeria including: increased tactical training for the Nigerian army, assistance to regional security and intelligence cooperation, and a joint UK/US educational programme to educate an additional 1 million children in Nigeria. All the parties present also agreed on the need for UN sanctions against Boko Haram’s leadership and Ansaru, another dangerous terrorist organisation. Both were listed by the UN Security Council’s Al Qaida Sanctions Committee on 26 June.
	Finally, states and delegates at the Summit joined together to sign a Statement of Action, uniting Governments, UN Agencies, civil society, experts and survivors with a shared determination to tackle these issues.

Children: Abuse

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any files on child abuse have been passed to his Department by (a) other parts of the Government or (b) hon. Members; and in what year such files were so passed.

David Lidington: The FCO's human resource, personnel security and records management departments are not aware of any files on child abuse which have been passed to the FCO from other parts of government or from hon. Members.

Cultural Heritage: Theft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what reports he has received of the theft of antiquities by ISIS and their sale in the international arts market;
	(2)  what reports he has received of the sale on stolen antiquities to fund violent conflict and terrorism in Iraq.

Tobias Ellwood: The British Government takes the funding of terrorist organisations through any means very seriously. The Government is concerned by recent reports that stolen antiquities may be funding terrorist activity by groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). The Government is also concerned by any destruction of important cultural heritage.
	The Government endorsed guidelines on countering trafficking in cultural property and related offences at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its 23
	rd
	session in May 2014.

Cyprus

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects for a successful solution to the Cyprus problem; and what steps he is taking to assist this development.

David Lidington: Since talks resumed on 11 February 2014, the two communities have engaged in substantive negotiations. Both sides now have a much better sense of each other's positions and concerns, and they have begun seeking the common ground in a number of areas. The parties have expressed a wish to intensify their efforts in the months ahead.
	We welcome the leaders' commitment to reach a comprehensive settlement as soon as possible. Their level of ambition, Turkey's engagement, and the recognition of the political and economic benefits al! mean that a successful solution is possible through this round of talks. No-one should underestimate the scale of the potential challenges ahead, but there has been no better time in recent years to achieve a lasting solution. Given those prospects, we are encouraging the two sides to begin building public support for a comprehensive settlement.
	We have been active in supporting the UN-facilitated talks. I recently invited the two chief negotiators to London, and was struck by their seriousness and determination to reach an agreement.
	Our diplomatic network has been engaged in regular discussions of the need for progress in Cyprus not only with Cypriot leaders but with Turkey, Greece, and others.

Cyprus

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the Government has made to the petition presented to 10 Downing Street on 9 December 2013 on the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants and the opening of the city's seaport; and what steps the UK is taking to support the return of that city to its former inhabitants.

David Lidington: I wrote to the organisers of the petition on 15 January 2014.1 understand the strength of feeling for the return of the Varosha area of Famagusta. The present state of that once-bustling town and nearby port reflects the consequences of the continued division of Cyprus.
	We fully support all relevant Security Council resolutions, including Resolutions 550 and 789 which address the future of Varosha. We have raised this issue with the Turkish Cypriots and with the Turkish authorities. I remain convinced that, ultimately, a comprehensive settlement is the best chance of resolving this complex issue. The UK will continue to support the negotiations for a settlement, which will also address the question of Varosha.

Diego Garcia

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 175W, on Diego Garcia, what other files were lost in the same incident.

Mark Simmonds: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), on 16 July. British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) immigration officials have reported that no other documents or files were lost or damaged.

Diego Garcia

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 172W, on Diego Garcia, where and on what dates the water damage to the records occurred.

Mark Simmonds: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), on 16 July.

India

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support religious tolerance of Christians in India.

Hugo Swire: Our high commissioner to India, Sir James Bevan, recently met India’s Minister of Minority Affairs, Dr Najma Heptulla, on 16 June to discuss a range of minority issues, including the protection of religious freedoms. Our high commission in New Delhi also discusses minority issues, including religious tolerance of Christians, with the Indian National Commission for Minorities and with other relevant state level authorities. Minority rights were also discussed at the EU-India human rights dialogue on 27 November 2013. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with the new Indian Government about minority rights issues.

Israel

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will introduce an embargo on the export of weapons to Israel.

Tobias Ellwood: We remain deeply concerned about the situation in Gaza. We call for an immediate de-escalation and restoration of the November 2012 ceasefire, to avoid further civilian injuries and the loss of innocent life.
	The United Kingdom does not believe that imposing a blanket arms embargo on Israel would promote progress in the Middle East Peace Process. All countries, including Israel, have a legitimate right to self-defence, and the right to defend its citizens from attack. In doing so, it is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and are calibrated to avoid civilian casualties.
	Export licence applications to all countries continue to be considered on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account the circumstances prevailing at the time of application. In view of the situation in Gaza, we are keeping all licence applications under review to ensure that all our decisions remain consistent with our human rights commitments and all applicable criteria. If a decision is taken to suspend or revoke licences we will announce this to Parliament, and where possible we will do this in concert with our EU partners.

Japan

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of recent changes in Japan's constitution and its defence doctrine.

Hugo Swire: The UK welcomes a more active role for Japan on international peace and security. These reforms, based on a reinterpretation of Japan's constitution, will allow it to make a greater contribution to international peace and security, including through exercising its right under the UN charter to collective self-defence. We have worked well with Japan in difficult security environments overseas and we welcome the prospect of greater practical co-operation in these areas.

Kashmir

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made about human rights and the humanitarian situation in Kashmir in the last year.

Hugo Swire: We are aware of allegations of human rights abuses on both sides of the Line of Control in Kashmir. We are clear that such allegations of human rights abuses must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. We regularly raise our concerns through our high commissions in Islamabad and Delhi as appropriate.

Kenya

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to offer support and advice to UK citizens visiting Kenya.

Mark Simmonds: FCO travel advice provides objective information and advice to help British nationals make better informed decisions about foreign travel. Our travel advice is reviewed regularly, and is updated if we are aware of an incident that might significantly affect Britons travelling or living in a particular area. We promote travel advice updates via e-mail alerts and on our social media channels. We advise against travel when we consider the level of risk to British nationals in a particular place is unacceptably high. The current travel advice for Kenya can be found on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/kenya

Land

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much land his Department has released for the purpose of building new homes since May 2010.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) owned estate in the UK is small and does not contain any land considered suitable for housing development. The FCO has not therefore released any land for this purpose.

Middle East

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of (a) Palestinian children killed by Israeli military attacks on Gaza and (b) Israeli citizens killed by rockets launched into Israel from Gaza since 1 July 2014.

Tobias Ellwood: As of noon on 21 July at least 436 Palestinians had been killed since the start of Operation Protective Edge, of which at least 83 were children. Twenty Israeli citizens were killed by rockets launched from Gaza during the same period.

Middle East

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guarantees he has sought from Israel that weapons sold to it by the UK will not be used on civilians in Palestine; and what assessment he has made of the reliability of those guarantees.

Tobias Ellwood: All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria in light of the prevailing circumstances. We will not issue an export licence where we judge there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression. We continue to monitor events in Gaza and Israel carefully and call on all sides to ensure that their actions are in line with international humanitarian law. It is vital that all actions are proportionate and are calibrated to avoid civilian casualties.

Middle East

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce tension in the on-going conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Tobias Ellwood: We are working to secure a ceasefire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke with the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on 18 July 2014 and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 19 July 2014. The Prime Minister also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 20 July 2014.

Middle East

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other NATO member states on the Middle East.

Tobias Ellwood: I have not yet had discussions with other NATO member states. However, the Government is in regular and frequent close contact with NATO member states on a range of issues across the middle east.

Middle East

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the reasons why Hamas has orchestrated the firing of rockets at Israel.

Tobias Ellwood: Although we do not talk to Hamas, we are aware that they have been under unprecedented political and financial pressure, are isolated and have a strong and active military wing.

Middle East

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to substantiate allegations made by Hamas in Gaza that Israel has attacked water wells, water purification plants and sewage treatment plants in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: The water and sanitation crisis is severe, with 50% of all services down. This situation has been exacerbated by damage to sewerage facilities caused by Israeli airstrikes.

Middle East

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate whether any UK manufactured weapons or components have been used by Israeli military forces during Operation Protective Edge.

Tobias Ellwood: We continue to monitor the situation in Gaza and Israel carefully to ensure that all our licensing decisions on weapons and components to Israel remain consistent with our human rights commitments and all applicable criteria. We currently have no plans to undertake a more comprehensive investigation into whether any UK manufactured weapons or components have been used by Israeli military forces during Operation Protective Edge.

Middle East

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether Israeli military action during Operation Protective Edge has complied with its international legal obligations.

Tobias Ellwood: We have not yet made a full assessment. We continue to monitor events in Gaza and Israel carefully and call on all sides to ensure that their actions are in line with International Humanitarian Law. International Humanitarian Law requires all sides to distinguish between military and civilian targets and enable unhindered humanitarian access. It is vital that all actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law and are calibrated to avoid any further civilian casualties.

Middle East

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the statement of 10 July 2014 by the Secretary General of the UN on the escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine.

Tobias Ellwood: We support the statement of 10 July 2014 from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. There has now been further escalation with Israel's ground operation started on 17 July. The UK will continue working towards our three policy objectives for the Gaza crisis-to secure a ceasefire, to alleviate humanitarian suffering, and to keep alive the prospects for peace negotiations, which are the only hope of breaking this cycle of violence and devastation once and for all.

Middle East

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent talks Ministers in his Department have had with (a) Israeli and (b) Palestinian leaders on the current situation in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: The Prime Minister spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 20 July.
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), spoke with Palestinian President Abbas on 19 July and Israeli Foreign Minister Liebermann on 18 July.

Middle East

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Palestinians and (b) Palestinian children who have been killed as a result of Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

Tobias Ellwood: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no information centrally on the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the potential effects of the imposition of economic sanctions on Israel on that country's (a) actions towards and (b) relations with the areas governed by the Palestinian Authority since the beginning of Israel's current military action in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: We have not made an assessment of the potential effects of the imposition of economic sanction on Israel, as the UK does not believe that imposing sanctions on Israel would be a constructive step. We enjoy a close and productive relationship with Israel which enables us to express our views at senior levels very frankly. It is our assessment that imposing sanctions on Israel would lessen this influence, not increase it, and would not promote the urgent progress towards a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which we want to see.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received about the role of Egyptian border control policies in contributing to the shortage of basic medical supplies in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: We welcome the humanitarian aid packages that Egypt has been supplying to Gaza throughout the current crisis. However, we remain concerned at the frequent closures of the Rafah crossing, and the additional pressure that this puts on the fragile humanitarian situation. We continue to encourage the Egyptian authorities to ease the movement of humanitarian aid through Rafah.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received of water supplies and sewage plants being the targets of Israeli air strikes in Gaza during the recent Israeli military action.

Tobias Ellwood: The water and sanitation crisis is severe, with 50% of all services down. This situation has been exacerbated by damage to sewerage facilities caused by Israeli airstrikes.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the number of Israeli citizens killed by rockets launched from Gaza into Israel since the beginning of Israel's current military action in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: As of the morning of 21 July our reports are that there have been 20 confirmed Israeli fatalities. One Israeli fatality caused by rocket fire; one Israeli fatality caused by mortar fire prior to the ground operation and 18 Israeli soldiers killed during the ground operation.

Middle East

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to encourage the Israeli Government to end the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza since the beginning of Israel's current military action in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: I refer my hon. Friend to the Statement on Gaza made by the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on 14 July 2014, Official Report, column 434.

Montserrat

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the (a) planning regulations and (b) environmental policies of the Montserrat government have been followed during the development of the new aquatic and sport centre.

Mark Simmonds: The elected Government of Montserrat has devolved constitutional responsibility for planning regulations and environmental policies. The Montserrat Ministry of Health, Education, Community Services, Sports and Youth has the responsibility for securing the relevant planning permission for the project. The Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC) have been sub-contracted to deliver the project. We understand that a planning application has been submitted and construction work will not start before this has been agreed.

North Korea

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consular assistance is available to British nationals travelling to and around North Korea.

Hugo Swire: The British embassy in Pyongyang can only provide limited consular assistance to British nationals in some parts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a result of the limited access allowed to these areas. If a British national is based within the capital, where possible, regular consular services can be provided. British nationals travelling independently should report their travel plans to the British embassy in advance. Full travel advice for the DPRK is available at:
	www.gov.uk

North Korea

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to prevent the use and development of nuclear weapons by North Korea; and what assessment he has made of the recent missile tests in the Gongwan Province.

Hugo Swire: We remain extremely concerned by the continued development of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programme, and by its refusal to abide by UN Security Council resolutions. We continue to work closely with partners to press for implementation of the UN’s sanctions regime, to control the DPRK’s access to proliferation sensitive material and to prevent them from exporting arms and technology.
	In the last few weeks the DPRK has undertaken a series of launches of short-range ballistic missiles, mainly of the SCUD class. No prior notice was given in advance of any of these launches. While it is likely that the DPRK is conducting these launches for training and development purposes, it is without doubt also using them to demonstrate its capability, and timing them to maximise political effect. We strongly condemn these, and we urge the DPRK to comply with all of its obligations under relevant UNSCRs and to refrain from any further provocations that cannot help but destabilise the peninsula and the wider region.

Occupied Territories

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to discourage the continued construction of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories since the beginning of Israel's current military action in Gaza.

Tobias Ellwood: The UK has reiterated on many occasions to Israel the need to cease constructing settlements that we consider illegal under international law. I refer the hon. Member to the statement on Gaza made by the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on 14 July 2014, Official Report, column 434.

Passports

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many emergency travel documents were issued in (a) June 2013 and (b) June 2014.

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued 2,895 emergency travel documents in June 2013 and 5,235 in June 2014 (as at 16 July).

Pay

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average salary gap is between women and men in his Department.

Tobias Ellwood: Salary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is determined by a range of factors including grade, performance, and length of time in employment. The latest data on average salaries of FCO staff by gender and grade are set out as follows and can be found in the FCO Diversity and Equality report, which was published in April 2014 and based on data for 2013. Full details can be found on page 12 of the report.
	
		
			 Grade Average female pay (£) Average male pay (£) Percentage male pay exceeds female pay 
			 SMS 3&4 118,470 131,360 10.88 
			 SMS 2 88,471 89,669 1.35 
			 SMS 1 67,030 68,286 1.87 
			 D7 57,147 58,195 1.83 
			 D6 47,204 47,576 0.79 
			 C5 35,581 36,233 1.83 
			 C4 28,753 28,710 -0.15 
			 B3 24,690 24,612 -0.32 
			 A2 20,700 20,492 -1.00 
			 A1 18,156 18,156 0.00 
		
	
	The pay gap between men and women at senior management structure 3 &4 is due to the relatively small number of women currently in those grades.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

David Lidington: As part of this Government's commitment to increasing transparency, all contracts over £10,000 are published at:
	http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk

Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on steps to tackle Islamic extremism in Europe.

Tobias Ellwood: Countering violent extremism in Europe is an important issue on which the British Government maintains a regular, ongoing dialogue with our European partners. For example, we have engaged with the recent revision of the EU's Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment, and welcomed this as an opportunity to enhance the approach of member states and the EU to countering radicalisation and further challenging extremism in Europe.

Social Networking

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Twitter accounts are run by his Department; how much his Department spends annually on (a) Twitter accounts and (b) all social media; and how many people in his Department are employed to work on social media.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has 17 corporate twitter accounts, including a central @foreignoffice account. The other accounts are for support to British nationals overseas, work on forced marriage, communications in Arabic and Urdu, and a range of other priorities such as recruitment, ending sexual violence in conflict and our policy on Europe. Six Ministers and the Permanent Under-Secretary are also on twitter in an official capacity, as well as most of our 270 posts overseas, many of our ambassadors and some other senior officials. The FCO does not spend anything on its Twitter accounts.
	The FCO runs a range of other social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Weibo, Flickr, Google+, YouTube but does not pay for any of these.
	The FCO occasionally uses paid-for advertising on its social media channels to promote key content. Any such advertising is subject to Cabinet Office marketing and advertising spending controls and is cleared in line with Cabinet Office procedures. It is not possible to breakdown exact spending, although details of overall exemptions to marketing and advertising controls are available on GOV.UK:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/exceptions-data
	One FCO official in London maintains the main Foreign Office corporate social media accounts. Staff from across the FCO contribute to other social media channels. For example, a number of staff in our Consular team contribute to the @FCOTravel twitter account as part of our customer service to British Nationals, and staff at posts contribute to overseas channels. It is not possible to give precise numbers across our network as this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

South East Asia

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage freedom of religion in Burma and other South-East Asian countries.

Hugo Swire: I made very clear during my visit to Burma in January that respect for freedom of religion and belief must be guaranteed. Our ambassador and officials regularly discuss the importance of freedom of religion, which is guaranteed in the constitution, with the Burmese Government, and also regularly meet representatives of all faith communities. The UK is also providing funding to train journalists on responsible coverage of religious freedom and conflict, and supporting a project to enhance the capacity of civil society groups to advocate freedom of religion. We have previously provided funding for interfaith dialogue and peace building among young people.
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials across South-East Asia regularly discuss these issues with local governments and faith communities, and Ministers also raise specific issues and concerns as they arise. Recently, for example, I raised our concerns about the introduction of a sharia criminal code in Brunei with Deputy Foreign Minister Pehin Lim; our ambassador in Jakarta has discussed the protection of religious minority groups in Indonesia; and my noble Friend, the right hon. Baroness Warsi, has stressed the importance of tolerance and mutual respect with senior ministers in Malaysia. We will also continue to support projects across South-East Asia designed to bolster and protect freedom of religion and belief.

Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the newly elected President of the Syrian National Council.

Tobias Ellwood: We are in constant contact with the Syrian opposition, including with the newly-elected President of the National Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra. We are increasing our support for them, as they counter the threats from extremists and Assad’s regime. UK Special Representative to Syria, Jon Wilks, met President al-Bahra on 10 and 15 July. In these discussions Mr Wilks stressed the UK’s strong support for the National Coalition’s goal of a transition to peaceful, democratic and inclusive Syria. I look forward to meeting and working with President al-Bahra in due course.

Syria

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what level of assistance his Department has provided to rebels in Syria; what form such support has taken; and what steps he is taking to prevent its misuse.

Tobias Ellwood: We have provided more than £20 million this year to support the moderate opposition, including the National Coalition who we recognise as the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. In May this year the then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), laid a written ministerial statement before Parliament announcing the lifting of the temporary hold on gifting to the Supreme Military Council and the intention to resume delivery of £1 million of non-lethal equipment as soon as is practical. Recipients of this assistance have been carefully selected to prevent equipment being given to those involved in extremist activities or human rights violations. The UK is not supplying weapons to anybody in Syria.
	The equipment we provide, including to the armed opposition groups, has undergone intense scrutiny to ensure that we are providing the best possible support and that we meet all our national and international obligations. The equipment has been scrutinised to ensure its provision is consistent with export controls under the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and EU restrictions on the provision of goods to Syria (as agreed by Member States on 27 May 2013).
	We have also supported the opposition’s political umbrella group, the National Coalition, with advisory and practical support. This has included strategic communications advice, and advice on internal governance arrangements. We have also supported the National Coalition’s delivery arm, the Interim Government, as they expand their plans to deliver services in opposition-held areas inside Syria. We have also funded a range of projects in support of civil society and activist groups both inside and outside Syria, which have included those documenting human rights abuses. The then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs announced in May that we would spend £30 million in support to the Syrian opposition and to bolster regional security.

Ukraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs What recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Ukraine.

David Lidington: The situation in eastern Ukraine is of grave concern. As the Prime Minister recently discussed with President Obama, Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande, Russia still needs to take steps towards de-escalation including support for a ceasefire; release of all hostages; and preventing the transit of weapons and fighters across the Russia-Ukraine border.
	The tragic incident involving Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 underlines the seriousness of the situation. The reason violence continues in eastern Ukraine is because Russian-backed armed separatists refused to respect a ceasefire and have continued to intimidate, mount attacks and disrupt the lives of ordinary people.

Ukraine: Russia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that Crimea is still internationally recognised as part of the Ukraine.

David Lidington: The Government strongly condemns Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea which violates the UN Charter and is illegal under international law. The UK co-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262 on the “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”, which was adopted on 27 March 2014 with 100 votes in favour and only 11 against. This result delivered a resounding international condemnation of Russian actions in Crimea and made clear Russia's isolation in the Security Council and in the international community.
	G7 leaders issued a statement on 4 June which affirmed G7 countries' non-recognition of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and condemned the unacceptable interference in Ukraine's sovereign affairs by the Russian Federation. G7 Leaders confirmed the decision by G7 countries to impose sanctions on individuals and entities who had actively supported or implemented the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and who were threatening the peace, security and stability of Ukraine. They underlined their implementation of a strict policy of non-recognition with respect to Crimea/Sevastopol, in line with UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262.
	The EU has regularly condemned Russian actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and supported action including the imposition of travel bans and asset freezes on 72 individuals and the sanctioning of two entities; the cancellation of the EU-Russia Summit; agreement not to hold bilateral summits; and a decision to block Russian membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and International Energy Agency.
	On 16 July, and in line with the EU's policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, the Prime Minister and other EU Leaders requested the European Commission and the European External Action Service to present proposals for additional measures on restricting investments in Crimea and Sevastopol. The European Council also asked the International Financial Institutions to refrain from financing any projects that explicitly or implicitly recognised the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol.
	The UK remains firmly committed to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

USA

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what arrangements the Government has reached with the US Administration about the holding of detainees on Diego Garcia.

Mark Simmonds: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Hugh Robertson), on 10 June 2014, Official Report, column 91W.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Products: Clones

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on meat and dairy products derived from cloned animals in the UK food-chain; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government believes that the existing EU Novel Food controls on the use of cloned material already ensure adequate protection of community consumers. The scientific advice we have makes clear that meat and milk from clones or their progeny is just as safe as that produced by more traditional methods. We do not therefore see the need for any further controls at this point.

Animal Welfare

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on any weakening of farm animal welfare provisions in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government continues to support the European Commission in seeking equivalence in animal welfare standards between the EU and US as an important part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and will strongly resist any attempts to undermine our high national standards or those of our Community partners.
	In parallel, we are working with the European Commission through the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to ensure that global standards of animal welfare match those of the EU.

Bees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her most recent estimate is of the UK population of each species of bumble bee; and what steps she is taking to increase the numbers.

Dan Rogerson: It is not possible to estimate the number of each species of bumblebee in the UK. We have made an assessment of trends in bumblebee populations from occurrence or distribution data collected by volunteer groups. Of the 26 bumblebee species which have been recorded in the UK, two have been declared extinct in the last century. One new species has arrived and another is being re-introduced. Bumblebee diversity generally decreased in Great Britain between 1950 and 1989, although the rate of decline appears to be slowing in more recent decades.
	DEFRA supports a number of initiatives that directly benefit bumblebees and other insect pollinators. Building on these initiatives, we are working with stakeholders to develop a National Pollinator Strategy. This will contain a series of policy actions to safeguard pollinators. We have also commissioned a two-year research project to develop and test a programme to monitor pollinators.
	On 18 July 2014 we launched our pollinator call to action, ‘Bees’ Needs: Food and a Home’. This is a simple message for all land managers on the essential needs of pollinators and how to fulfil them. By making a few simple changes to our land management practices, we can make a positive difference for pollinators, including bumblebees.

Birds: Trapping

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the (a) British Association for Shooting and Conservation and (b) Countryside Alliance on Larsen traps for the control of corvids.

George Eustice: DEFRA Ministers have not discussed the use of Larsen traps for the control of corvids with either the British Association for Shooting and Conservation or the Countryside Alliance.

Cane Sugar

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the European Commission on cane sugar imports.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), has not had any discussions with the Commission to date. However, since agreement was reached on the Common Agriculture Policy in June 2013, the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), exchanged letters with the Agriculture Commissioner on the needs of the cane refining sector. My right hon. Friend’s letters, sent on 22 July 2013 and 8 January 2014, stressed the importance of competition in the sugar market and the need for a reduction in tariff barriers for raw cane sugar in order to maintain this. In his replies, the Commissioner promised to take these issues into account.

EU External Trade: USA

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on future-proofing UK and EU standards of consumer and worker protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability following the conclusion of those negotiations.

George Eustice: The Government wants to preserve the ability of the UK and EU to set and regulate standards for a range of issues (including consumer and worker protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability) in order to address our future needs. The Government therefore wishes to enhance cooperation between the EU and US, without affecting the ability of governments to set policy on these issues.

Floods: Business

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 3 March 2014, Official Report, column 624W, on Floods: Business, how many Repair and Renewal Grant applications have been (a) received and (b) processed.

Dan Rogerson: The ‘Repair and Renew’ grant was launched on 1 April 2014. Applications for the grant are being received and processed by local authorities, who may then invoice DEFRA every quarter. DEFRA began receiving invoices from local authorities in July.

Fly-tipping

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of dealing with animals involved in fly-tipping.

Dan Rogerson: We have made no such estimate.

Food

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of whether measures to achieve regulatory convergence under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may lead to a lower standard of food production in the UK in respect of (a) food safety, (b) food labelling and transparency, (c) animal welfare, (d) worker protections and (e) consumer protections; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Regulatory coherence offers greater compatibility of EU and US systems and helps to reduce the costs of complying with duplicate procedures at our borders. Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have been clear that this is not about reducing regulatory standards. Any agreement will need to take into account EU and US rules on food safety, food labelling, animal welfare, worker protection and consumer protection. Regulatory coherence between the EU and US is not therefore expected to lead to lower standards of food production in the UK.

Food Banks

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the oral answer from the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners to the hon. Member for York Central of 17 July 2014, what information her Department holds on how many (a) food banks existed and (b) people made use of food banks in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

George Eustice: There are no official figures for the number of food banks or for people who have made use of them. The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision, through to regional and national schemes. The greatest proportion is community-led provision responding to local needs. As such, the Government do not believe it is possible to keep records of the number of food banks or how many people made use of them.

Food Supply

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2014, Official Report, column 611W, on Biofuels, what steps her Department has taken to embed the importance of food security across her Department's policies; and what research her Department supports in this area.

Dan Rogerson: Through business planning DEFRA is able to ensure that food security is embedded as a priority objective across all relevant policy areas. For example, DEFRA’s policy to improve the openness of world markets will not only promote growth, but also ensure the diversity of the UK’s food supply. Pressing for reform of agricultural and trade policies will also contribute to future food security by increasing agricultural productivity and reducing inefficiencies.
	In terms of research, the Government’s Agri-Tech Strategy, published last July, sets out our approach to helping improve global food supply while maximising the economic potential of the UK’s agri-food science base. This is on top of the more than £400 million a year the Government was already spending on research into different aspects of food security, funded by the Research Councils, Department for International Development and devolved Administrations as well as DEFRA.

Food Supply Networks Review

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings (a) Chris Elliot and (b) members of his team have had with representatives from the meat importation sector during the investigation into criminality in the food chain.

George Eustice: The city of London police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching criminal investigations into the Europe-wide horsemeat fraud.
	During the course of his Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks, Professor Elliott and his team carried out site visits, and met many industry stakeholders, regulators and consumers, including representatives from the meat importation sector.

Food: Procurement

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on food procurement rules and the ability of the Government to stipulate conditions on procurement which recognise local and regional food and the economic and other benefits of sourcing local and regional food for public procurement; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition. Through our membership of the European Union and as a signatory to international agreements, our contracting authorities are required to treat suppliers from Europe and various other countries on an equal footing with UK suppliers. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is expected to incorporate these long-standing principles of EU and WTO (World Trade Organisation) law. The Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012) requires contracting authorities to consider the full social, environmental and economic value of public services procurements at the pre-procurement stage.
	The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The most appropriate way to do this is for companies to offer the goods and services at the right quality levels and to provide good value for money. The Government is determined to make access to public sector contracts easier and is introducing a simpler, streamlined method for procuring food and catering services that sets out public sector's requirements more clearly. This was launched on 21 July in ‘A Plan for Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services’.

Forests

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to promote the forestry industry.

Dan Rogerson: The Government is committed to promoting the forestry industry in line with its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement.
	In addition to supporting the industry-led Grown in Britain initiative, which has already gained commitment from 26 major UK Contractors Group companies, with a collective turnover of over £26 billion, to buy British timber preferentially where possible, we are providing support to the sector though the Rural Development Programme, which has provided over £167 million over the past seven years. The new Farming and Forestry Productivity Scheme will further improve the forestry industry’s productivity by supporting new business entrants, innovative practice and our forestry skills base.
	The Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive has funded over 3,400 woodfuel boilers, helping to create a new sustainable market for British timber. In addition, our £15 million Rural Community Energy Fund is supporting 12 projects enabling communities to utilise local woodlands to meet their biomass energy requirements.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Labelling

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on labelling of products containing GM in the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement. [Official Report, 1 September 2014, Vol. 585, c. 2MC.]

George Eustice: This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The Government will consider its negotiation position based on a range of factors including the environmental impact and public health benefit of such anti-microbial treatments that can reduce potential for foodborne illness.

Horse Meat

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the investigation into criminal prosecutions as a result of the adulteration of beef products with horsemeat; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Food Standards Agency and the City of London police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching investigations into the Europe wide horsemeat fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that criminal proceedings have been instituted for the mislabelling of goat meat and the failure to comply with traceability requirements in relation to horsemeat. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing criminal investigations.

Meat

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on pork and other meats treated with lactic acid and other organic washes entering the UK food-chain; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The Government will consider its negotiation position based on a range of factors including the environmental impact and public health benefit of such anti-microbial treatments that can reduce potential for foodborne illness.

Meat

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on meat containing ractopamine entering the UK food-chain; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The use of beta-agonists such as ractopamine for growth promotion purposes is banned under Council Directive 96/22/EC. Third countries permitted to export to the EU are required to have equivalent standards, therefore meat from those countries entering the EU should not contain residues of these substances.

Meat

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on meat treated with antibiotics as growth promoters entering the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been banned in the EU since 2006. Third countries permitted to export to the EU are required to have equivalent standards, therefore meat from those countries entering the EU should not contain residues of these substances.

Nature Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to maintain the natural balance of numbers of birds of prey, foxes, magpies, grey-back crows and badgers.

George Eustice: DEFRA seeks to protect vulnerable species and to ensure that where abundant or pest species need to be controlled this is done so by legal means.

Nature Conservation

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to implement the commitments contained in the white paper, The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature published in 2011.

Dan Rogerson: We have made good progress on implementing the ambitious programme of policies set out in the White Paper. Of the 92 commitments made in the White Paper, over three quarters are now assessed as “completed” and action is ongoing to deliver the remaining commitments.
	We have published a series of implementation updates on the gov.uk website, setting out the progress that has been made towards the White Paper’s commitments, most recently in February 2014. This information can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-environment-white-paper-implementation-updates

Peat Bogs

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to restore upland peat sites.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has a range of measures in place to support the restoration of upland peat sites. These include protection through statutory area designations such as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs). In addition there are specific incentives for peatland restoration in agri-environment schemes. In 2013 we committed £31.2 million through environmental stewardship (covering around 98,000ha) to management options for the maintenance and restoration of moorland habitats. A further £4.1 million was committed in capital grants for grip blocking. These are the key options in environmental stewardship that contribute to the management of upland peat. This support will continue to be provided under the new environmental land management scheme.
	The dark peak nature improvement area (NIA) in the Peak District, one of the 12 NIAs announced in 2012, is focused on improving upland peatland habitats across an area of 25,000ha.
	In September 2013 we launched the pilot UK Peatland Code which provides a basis for business sponsorship of peatland restoration. An initial suite of restoration projects from across the UK have been identified covering over 25,000 ha of mainly blanket bog.
	Upland peat restoration is also being addressed through DEFRA’s Research and Development Programme, with over £1 million committed between 2010 and 2015 to identify restoration techniques with the best environmental outcomes.

Poultry

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on poultry treated with hyper-chlorinated water entering the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP negotiations and is unlikely to be until the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) delivers an opinion on the public health, safety and environmental impact of this treatment process. The Government will consider its position when the EFSA opinion becomes available.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the restricted grant-in-aid to Royal Gardens Botanical, Kew has been in each financial year since 2007.

Dan Rogerson: Kew publishes the funding it receives from DEFRA in its Annual Reports and Accounts, which are publicly available on the Kew website. The presentation of Kew’s accounts has evolved over the years and they have moved to reporting in terms of ‘restricted’ and ‘unrestricted’ DEFRA funding from 2013-14. DEFRA places no restrictions on its core or operational funding (resource), which Kew currently considers how best to allocate to deliver its statutory objectives; Kew accordingly defines this as 'unrestricted'. DEFRA does place restrictions on its capital funding, which may only be used for specified purposes in accordance with bids from Kew. Kew now reports this as ‘restricted’ funding.
	
		
			 Kew budget since 2007-08 
			 £000 
			  Data from Kew's Published ARA 
			 Income Split 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 GIA Income 25,204 26,600 28,550 24,620 28,500 32,475 28,000 
			 DEFRA (Capital) 7.60 8.75 10.90 7.90 12.70 117.00 213.6 
			 DEFRA (Operational) 17.60 19.85 17.65 16.72 15.80 115.45 14.4 
			 1 Taken from DEFRA records as income split is not published in Kew’s accounts for this year. 2 This includes £1.3 million for severance and redundancy payments.

Turtles: Cayman Islands

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the CITES Management Authority has declared that the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

George Eustice: The elected Government of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, has devolved constitutional responsibility for animal welfare and conservation including for legislation and policies governing the Cayman Turtle Farm.
	An independent investigation in 2002, carried out in support of an application to register the Cayman Turtle Farm as a captive-breeding operation under CITES, a Convention for which DEFRA is responsible, concluded that the standards of care at the Cayman Turtle Farm were humane.
	The UK Government has been in contact with the Cayman Islands Government more recently, expressing the UK’s commitment to raising animal welfare standards and requesting an assurance that the Cayman Islands Government takes the findings of a report by the then World Society for the Protection of Animals seriously and be committed to making appropriate improvements. I am pleased to say that the Deputy Premier of the Cayman Islands, Mr Kirkconnell, gave that assurance in a response to the Secretary of State on 24 October 2013.
	The UK CITES Management Authority has not made a recent assessment of whether the Cayman Turtle Farm is a humane facility.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, columns 298-9W, to the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, on electoral register, which of the local authorities which failed Performance Standard Three in more than one year (a) were and (b) were not granted additional central government funding to increase registration.

Sam Gyimah: All Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have received funding, based on their levels of under-registration, to help with the costs of local activities to maximise registration as part of the transition to Individual Electoral Registration.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Building Regulations

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research he has undertaken into the effects of the changes introduced in 2010 to part F of the building regulations. [R]

Stephen Williams: We have not undertaken any research yet into the effects of the 2010 changes to the ventilation provisions in part F of the building regulations, but this is being considered by the Department.

Coastal Areas

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the responsibilities of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Coastal Communities will be; and whether Hull will be classed as a coastal community for this purpose.

Penny Mordaunt: My responsibilities are on the DCLG website and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/people/penny-mordaunt
	Hull is classed as a coastal community under the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund which covers both coastal and estuarine settlements. It has received two grant awards from the Fund to date totalling over £700,000 to support projects promoting growth and jobs in the city.

Fire Services: Pensions

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the annual administrative costs of the firefighters pension scheme 1992 and the new firefighters pension scheme 2006;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the administration costs of the proposed 2015 firefighters’ pension scheme.

Penny Mordaunt: The firefighters’ pension schemes are administered locally by individual fire and rescue authorities. No assessment has been made of the administrative costs of the schemes by this Department.

Freedom of Information

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on legal fees in cases relating to the release of information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each of the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Future High Streets Forum

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions the Future High Streets Forum has met this year; and who has attended each such meeting.

Penny Mordaunt: The Future High Streets Forum has met three times this year, on 21 January, 29 April and 8 July. Attendee details can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/future-high-streets-forum

Housing Revenue Accounts

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2014, Official Report, column 617W, on housing revenue accounts, what criteria are used to assess bids for the allocation of extra borrowing allowed against the housing revenue accounts.

Brandon Lewis: The prospectus for the Local Growth Fund: Housing Revenue Account Borrowing Programme (2015-16 and 2016-17) sets out how bids for additional housing revenue account borrowing are assessed. The prospectus is available on the Government’s website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-growth-fund-housing-revenue-account-borrowing-programme-2015-to-2016-and-2016-to-2017
	The Government has announced £60 million additional housing revenue account borrowing across 15 local authorities and expects to make further funding announcements at the end of the summer. We have also announced that there will be a second round of bidding to the Housing Revenue Account Borrowing Programme with a deadline for bids of 30 September 2014.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much and what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

Kris Hopkins: DCLG purchases a wide range of goods and services from outside suppliers. The information requested for the last five years is not centrally held in the form requested and would incur disproportionate cost to provide. However, details of all spending over £250 are available on my Department’s website as part of our transparency data.
	I would add that we have recently adopted a shared services model with other Departments, with our legal function being undertaken by Treasury Solicitors and our procurement being undertaken by the Crown Commercial Service. There is significant scope for further sharing of services.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Kris Hopkins: As part of my Department’s transparency programme, any spend over £250.00 is available on the Department’s website. Since January 2011, all contracts over £10,000 in value are published on Contracts Finder:
	https://www.contractsfinder.co.uk/

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Aerials: Planning Permission

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to consult local residents on decisions on the construction of mobile telephone masts under the mobile infrastructure project where plans for construction have been through pre-planning and published.

Edward Vaizey: Arqiva will be consulting with communities in line with the Mobile Operators Code of Best Practice.

Authority for Television on Demand

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many broadcasters in (a) Wales and (b) the UK have been closed as a result of their inability or refusal to pay the Authority for Television On Demand's regulatory fees.

Edward Vaizey: ATVOD has no power to close an on demand programme service and therefore has not required any service to close for non-payment of fees.
	Ofcom has not, to date, exercised its statutory powers to either suspend or restrict the entitlement of an on-demand service provider to provide its services because of non-payment of fees.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Helen Grant: The value of duplicate supplier payments detected by the Department in each financial year since 2010 was:
	
		
			 Financial year £ 
			 2010-11 38,815.22 
			 2011-12 17,976.00 
			 2012-13 nil 
			 2013-14 26,481.10 
		
	
	All of these duplicate payments were detected by the Departments own financial control processes and recovered in full in the same financial year at no cost to the Department.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to improve the broadband infrastructure for businesses in rural areas.

Edward Vaizey: The Government is investing £780 million, with local match funding, to provide superfast broadband coverage to 95% of UK premises, including in rural locations. Coverage will include both business and residential consumers. In addition, the Government has also launched eight pilot projects to explore options for improving coverage of superfast broadband beyond 95%, including to the most hard to reach areas of the UK.

Broadcasting: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will discuss with the BBC Trust measures to increase coverage of life, history and culture in Lancashire across the BBC national television and radio network.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the BBC Trust but has no plans to discuss this issue. Under the terms of the BBC’s Charter and Agreement, the BBC is required to
	“promote awareness of different cultures and alternative viewpoints, through content that reflects the lives of different people and different communities within the UK”.
	The BBC is however operationally and editorially independent of Government and there is no provision for the Government to intervene in the corporation’s day-to-day operations.

Cultural Heritage: Theft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if he will hold discussions with the major auction houses on the sale of stolen antiquities from conflict areas and the links between the proceeds of such sales and the funding of terrorism;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with Sotheby’s Auction House on the sale of conflict antiquities in the UK domestic marketplace;
	(3)  if his Department will bring forward legislation to outlaw the sale of stolen conflict antiquities in the UK.

Edward Vaizey: I have no current plans to hold discussions with the major auction houses, nor has the Government recently discussed the sale of conflict antiquities with them. The Government believes that regulating trade in antiquities is primarily the responsibility of the art and antiquities trade itself. The established trade associations possess codes of ethics by which they expect their members to abide and we expect the associations to strictly enforce those codes. The DCMS has produced advice and guidance to help UK dealers and auction houses consider the relevant issues such as ensuring the secure provenance of cultural objects in which they deal.
	The UK takes the issue of illicit trade in cultural goods very seriously and is continuously working to combat this type of trafficking.
	The UK has legislation in place, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which makes it an offence to import or export objects if that is prohibited under any enactment. Once an EU Regulation prohibiting such import or export comes into force, the act becomes a UK offence. Accordingly, prohibitions on export and import of certain Syrian cultural property under Council Regulation (EU) 1332/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria, have been backed up by UK offences since December 2013. These are complemented by a statutory instrument (The Export Control (Syria Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2014) which was laid before Parliament on 18 July 2014. The prohibitions relate to the trade in certain Syrian cultural goods where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods were removed from Syria on or after 9 May 2011 without consent of the legitimate owner or in breach of Syrian or international law.
	The import, export and dealing in illegally removed Iraqi cultural property is prohibited under The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003. While not specific to war situations, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 prohibits dealing in cultural objects illegally excavated or illegally removed from monuments or structures of historical, architectural or archaeological interest.

Gun Sports

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic games for participation in clay pigeon shooting in each region of the UK.

Helen Grant: Sport England is investing £1.1 million in British shooting for 2013-17 to get more people taking part in shooting regularly.
	According the Active People survey, 54,300 people take part in clay pigeon shooting in England at least once a month. This is an increase of 3,800 since 2012. It is the most popular shooting discipline in England.
	The following table gives a regional breakdown of shooting (all disciplines) participation. Please note—a regional breakdown of figures for specific shooting disciplines is not available due to the relatively small size of the sport.
	
		
			  Monthly participants (16+)  
			 Region October 2011-12 April 2013-14 Change since 2011-12 
			 East 22,800 19,400 -3,400 
			 East Midlands 14,200 11,300 -2,900 
			 London1 — — — 
			 North East1 — — — 
			 North West 12,000 12,700 700 
			 South East 21,100 23,200 2,100 
			 South West 18,700 12,400 -6,300 
			 West Midlands 10,500 14,400 3,900 
			 Yorkshire 9,700 16,900 7,200 
			 1 Data not available for these regions due to the relatively small size of the sport.

Local Broadcasting: Television

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he last met BLTV Ltd to discuss its progress on delivering the local television franchise for the Birmingham area.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS Ministers have not met representatives from BLTV Ltd.

Local Broadcasting: Television

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how long a local television franchise is valid for; and whether BLTV will launch in Birmingham within the period of its existing franchise.

Edward Vaizey: Local TV licences issued by Ofcom expire on 25 November 2025. Successful applicants have two years from the date they were awarded the licence to begin operating services, at which point their licence commences. The Birmingham licence was awarded on 6 November 2012 and the licence holder must be on-air by 6 November 2014. Where a local TV station does not launch within two years, Ofcom's policy is to re-advertise the licence.

Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many contracts (a) let since 2010 and (b) about to be let by his Department and its agencies are worth (i) between £1 million and £3 million and (ii) over £3 million; how much has been spent on monitoring each contract let by his Department since 2010; and how many officials in his Department monitor each contract let since 2010.

Helen Grant: Since 2010, the Department has let five contracts between £1 million and £3 million. These have been for:
	Legal services in respect of Rural Broadband.
	Legal services in respect of the Mobile Infrastructure Project.
	Three contracts to test the feasibility of rolling out superfast broadband to the hardest to reach areas.
	It has also let four contracts since 2010 that have been over £3 million. These are:
	1. Mobile Infrastructure Project.
	2. Taking Part Survey.
	3. Contingent Labour.
	4. In addition, the Department holds the contract for the Broadband Delivery Framework under which the devolved Administrations and local authorities have contracted to provide superfast broadband as part of the Government’s programme to reach 90% of the UK by early 2016.
	The Department is also about to let one contract over £3 million for Ceremonial Event Management Services.
	The Department does not hold any contract information on contracts let by its agencies.
	The Department does not hold data on the amounts spent on monitoring each contract and could provide it only at disproportionate cost.
	In terms of the number of officials monitoring contracts, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is responsible for the Government’s Superfast Broadband Rollout (Rural) Programme to provide superfast broadband to 90% of premises and to universal standard broadband to all by 2016. £1.2 million of public funding is being invested in 44 separate local contracts to roll out phase 1 of this programme; plus £150 million in multiple local contracts in 22 cities as part of the Super Connected Cities Programme to provide free wi-fi in public buildings, transport networks and public spaces and help small business connect to superfast broadband; and the £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project contract to enhance mobile connectivity in areas with no coverage. BDUK has around 90 staff, many of whom are involved in monitoring delivery of these programmes and contracts.
	There are approximately 4.5 officials monitoring the other contracts listed.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Helen Grant: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Supplier 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 G4S 0.00 0.00 320.40 0.00 
			 Capita Health Solutions 253.51 80.78 0.00 0.00 
			 Capita Resourcing Ltd 0.00 116,214.73 2,859,479.69 4,312,004.26 
			 Capita Learning and Development 0.00 0.00 16,816.15 40,584.36 
			 Capita Business Travel 40,650.77 80,513.95 94,356.64 0.00 
			 Capita Symonds 0.00 0.00 66,375.60 0.00 
			 Capita Business Services (interim) 0.00 0.00 0.00 74,679.50 
			 Atos 4,154,276.48 4,487,340.49 5,958,713.10 4,707,570.47 
			 Mitie Managed Services 242,840.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 Carillion Business Services Ltd 121,567.48 1,100,852.66 2,301,879.07 656,254.50 
			 Carillion Business Services Ltd 848,636.47 282,432.48 892,106.50 0.00

Telecommunications

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to respond to the Law Commission recommendations on reform of the Electronic Communications Code.

Edward Vaizey: Since the Law Commission published its report on the reform of the Electronic Communications Code in February 2013, my Department has been considering the implications of the recommendations on network rollout and service provision to consumers. In January 2014 we published an economic analysis of the impact of various wayleave valuation regimes. A copy of this report has been placed in the House of Commons Library. The analysis work is ongoing and I will make public the plans to reform the Electronic Communications Code, and respond to the Law Commission’s report, in due course.

World War I: Anniversaries

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department is taking to encourage community organisations to take up EU funding offered by the Europe for Citizens programme and similar schemes in order to commemorate the centenary of world war I through exchanges and visits.

Edward Vaizey: During the passage of the European Approval Act 2013, I took great care to emphasise the opportunities the Europe for Citizens Programme offers for commemoration of the first world war. The Government will deliver a four-year programme to mark the first world war centenary through a package of funded activity worth over £125 million. Alongside the UK centenary programme, the Europe for Citizens programme will provide opportunities to develop a greater understanding of the period between those who were both allies and adversaries at the time.
	
		
			 Table 4: Repeat abortions to women aged 40 - 44 by gestation, residents of England and Wales, 2013 
			  Gestation (weeks)  
			 Number of previous abortions Under 10 10-12 13-19 20 and over Total 
			 1 1,956 234 167 20 2,377 
			 2 615 72 55 2 744 
			 3 or more 228 37 16 2 283 
			 Note: The number of abortions for women who have had three or more previous abortions have been grouped to protect patient confidentiality. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 5: Repeat abortions to women aged 44 and over by gestation, residents of England and Wales, 2013 
			  Gestation (weeks)  
			 Number of previous abortions Under 10 10-12 13-19 20 and over Total 
			 1 or more 256 16 15 4 291 
			 Note: The number of abortions for women who have had one or more previous abortions have been grouped to protect patient confidentiality.

World War I: Anniversaries

Joe Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to his Department's publication, Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2013, published in June 2014, which method of stopping the fetal heart besides feticide is referred to in paragraph 2.25.

Jane Ellison: No other such method is referred to or required as the publication refers to cases where the procedure is undertaken under general anaesthesia i.e. patient and fetus are anaesthetised.

World War I: Anniversaries

Joe Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health With reference to the findings of his Department’s Abortion Statistics 2013, published in June 2014, paragraph 2.4, that 81 per cent of abortions in that year were carried out for single women, if he will take steps to reduce the abortion rate by encouraging couples to stay together.

Jane Ellison: 51% of the women classified as “single” in Abortion Statistics 2013 were in a relationship but not married or in a civil partnership.
	More broadly, the Government's Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (March 2013) highlights the importance of building knowledge and resilience amongst young people so they have the confidence and emotional resilience to understand the benefits of loving, healthy relationships and delaying sex.

World War I: Anniversaries

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports his Department has received of ground C abortions which were permitted for reasons of fetal gender in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department has received no reports of ground C abortions which were permitted for reasons of fetal gender between 2003 and 2013.

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage parents to prevent the consumption of alcohol by children; and what steps are being taken by schools to assist this prevention work.

Jane Ellison: The Government’s Alcohol Strategy set out several measures to support our commitment to reducing underage drinking. These include educating young people on the risks associated with alcohol and by addressing factors that can influence young people’s attitude to alcohol, such as parental drinking. We are ensuring that guidance is available for parents through a range of public and community organisations including; NHS Choices, Directgov, Family Lives, and NetMum, Mumsnet, Dad Talk and Contact a Family.
	Following the Government’s review of Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education in March 2013, the Department for Education launched an evidence-based alcohol and drugs information service for those working with young people, which provides practical advice and tools based on the best international evidence.

Ambulance Services

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the process used to appoint Dr Anthony Marsh to the post of Chief Executive for (a) West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust and (b) East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust; if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between his Department and both ambulance trusts on these appointments; what level of salary Dr Anthony Marsh receives for each role; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Anthony Marsh was appointed chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WMAS) in July 2006. Dr Marsh was previously chief executive of Essex Ambulance Service.
	Dr Marsh became chief executive of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) from 1 January 2014. He was seconded to EEAST at the request of the NHS Trust Development Authority (NHS TDA) because of persistent poor performance at EEAST and the trust’s failure to appoint a substantive chief executive when it attempted to recruit to the post on several occasions in recent years. He is contracted to work three days a week at EEAST in addition to continuing in his chief executive role at WMAS.
	The NHS TDA advises that Dr Marsh’s salary is £232,226.42 per annum in total, which includes a £50,000 uplift to his former WMAS salary for his additional duties at EEAST. EEAST pays 60% of Dr Marsh’s salary. The £50,000 additional salary payment was agreed between the remuneration committees of WMAS and EEAST for the increased responsibility of running two trusts.
	The NHS TDA believes that Dr Marsh has already made a significant impact at EEAST, with the recruitment of 400 additional paramedics expected this year, 147 new ambulances now ordered and a £1 million reduction in management costs, which is being re-invested into the front line.
	A search of the Department’s ministerial correspondence database has not identified any correspondence between the Department and either ambulance trust on these appointments. This search represents correspondence received by the Department’s ministerial correspondence unit only.

Ambulance Services

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have met Dr Anthony Marsh in the last three years; what the purpose was of such meetings; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Minister of State (Norman Lamb) has met Dr Anthony Marsh on two occasions in the last three years to discuss the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST)—11 June 2013 and 24 January 2014.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe) has met Dr Marsh on the following occasions in the last three years:
	12 September 2012 at a meeting of the Ministerial Steering Group on Emergency Services Collaboration;
	12 October 2012 at a meeting of the National Ambulance Service Network to discuss national issues;
	6 November 2012 to discuss the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
	10 April 2013 to discuss national ambulance policy and Dr Marsh's review of the governance of EEAST;
	30 May 2013 during a visit to EEAST, to discuss Dr Marsh's review of the governance of EEAST;
	11 June 2013 when Earl Howe hosted a meeting for local Members of Parliament to discuss EEAST. Dr Marsh was present at the meeting;
	31 October 2013 to discuss national ambulance policy and issues relating to EEAST;
	21 January 2014 to discuss winter pressures on ambulance performance nationally, and to provide an update on EEAST actions;
	11 February 2014 to discuss EEAST performance with local Members of Parliament;
	8 July 2014 to discuss EEAST performance; and
	17 July 2014 (via phone call) to discuss national ambulance policy.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Dr Daniel Poulter) attended EEAST's Long Service and Excellence Awards on 9 May 2014 to present awards. Dr Marsh is likely to have been present at the event.
	Departmental officials are likely to have been present at the ministerial meetings. Departmental officials have also met Dr Marsh separately on the following occasions:
	19 April 2013 (via phone call) to discuss EEAST;
	20 November 2013 to discuss EEAST; and
	30 June 2014—Department of Health officials, together with Department for Communities and Local Government officials, facilitated a meeting between the Chief Fire Officers Association and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE). Dr Marsh was present at this meeting as Chair of AACE. The meeting focused on progressing co-responding between the fire service and ambulance services across the country.
	Notes:
	1. Archived diaries for some former Ministers cannot be accessed. The list of ministerial meetings may not therefore be comprehensive.
	2. There is no official record of meetings between departmental officials and Dr Marsh. The list may not therefore be comprehensive.

Anticoagulants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will estimate the amount that the NHS would have saved if the anti-coagulant drug Heparin were used instead of Bivalirudin during cardiac procedures in each year since 2010;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the anti-coagulant drug Bivalirudin.

Norman Lamb: We have made no such estimate.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has appraised bivalirudin in combination with aspirin and clopidogrel and recommends the drug as a possible treatment for adults with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention in guidance issued in July 2011.
	Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance for use in the national health service, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.

Arthritis

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have suffered complications following knee and hip operations related to osteoarthritis in the last five years.

Norman Lamb: This information is not available. Although some information on post-operative complications experienced by osteoporosis patients following surgery of the hip and knee is available via the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) data collection, this only covers hip and knee replacement, and not the full range of surgical interventions. In addition to this, as PROMs is a voluntary reporting system the data published does not reflect the total number of osteoporosis patients having complications for all hip and knee replacements. More information on PROMS data can be found at the following link:
	www.hscic.gov.uk/proms

Association of Ambulance Chief Executives

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding and support his Department provides to the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) is an independent organisation set up and run by the ambulance trusts themselves, like the parallel organisations for police and fire services.
	The Department does not directly provide any money or support to the AACE.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department checks for duplicate supplier payments as part of the business as usual processes within the finance team. As part of the internal process checks the Department has identified the value of duplicate supplier payments since 2010 as £1,287,260.31.
	The proportion of such payments the Department has recovered following these internal checks in each of the last two financial years is as follows:
	(i) Payments for 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013—£325,456.94—of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.
	(ii) Payments for 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014—£282,198.56—of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.
	For completeness, in the financial year 2010-11 the value of such payments was £510,599.10 of which 99.7% was recovered, and in financial year 2011-12 the value of such payments was £169,005.71 of which 98.6% was recovered.
	Further investigations are taking place into duplicate payments made as part of a Spend Recovery Audit that the Department has commissioned externally and we will seek to recover any further duplicates identified as part of this exercise.

Botulinum Toxin

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with medical authorities on the use of botox as a painkiller; and whether it is used as such in the NHS.

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions. Botox is not licensed in the United Kingdom for use as a painkiller.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance for the national health service in May 2012 which recommends botulinum toxin type A as a possible treatment for preventing headaches in some adults with chronic migraine, subject to certain clinical criteria.
	Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.

Cerebral Palsy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of supporting people with cerebral palsy.

Norman Lamb: No estimate has been made of the cost to the public purse of supporting people with cerebral palsy.
	National health service expenditure on cerebral palsy is included in the programme budgeting category ‘neurological problems’, but cannot be separately identified. Aggregate annual NHS expenditure in this category in 2012-13, the latest period for which data are available, was £4.44 billion.
	The programme budgeting data return are an analysis of commissioning expenditure by health care condition and care centre based on figures provided to NHS England by primary care trusts (PCTs) and PCT successor organisations. Programme budgeting data, as well as further information on how these figures were calculated, can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:
	www.england.nhs.uk/resources/resources-for-ccgs/prog-budgeting/

Cerebral Palsy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average age at which children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Daniel Poulter: Information is not collected centrally on the age at which children are diagnosed with cerebral palsy and therefore no estimate of the average age of diagnosis has been made.
	The age at which a diagnosis of cerebral palsy is made will depend on its severity and type. In some cases it will be diagnosed at birth other cases will be picked up through screening and monitoring.
	Under the Healthy Child Programme schedule, babies undergo screening and health checks or immunisations at birth, at 72 hours, at five to eight days, at six to eight weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, six to eight months and 12 months, 2½ years and at school entry.

Diabetes

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data his Department gathers on the number of patients with diabetes who are admitted to hospital each month as a result of a hypoglycaemic episode; and what estimate has been made of the overall cost of hypoglycaemia to the NHS.

Jane Ellison: Providers of NHS services in England are required to supply information on activity to the Secondary Uses Services (SUS) database via commissioning datasets. Each month an extract from the SUS database is taken and populated into the Hospital Episode Statistics database which is then made available for analysis.
	Diseases are classified using the World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases. Codes to identify diabetes and hypoglycaemia exist, so it is possible to report activity on admissions to hospital for patients with a primary diagnosis of hypoglycaemia and a secondary diagnosis of diabetes.
	NHS England has not made an estimate of the overall cost of hypoglycaemia to the national health service.

Disability Aids

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to report to hon. Members on the steps he is taking to ensure the continued quality and availability of assistive technology.

Norman Lamb: Through the Mandate we have asked NHS England to improve the lives of 3 million people with long-term conditions through the use of the assistive technologies of telehealth and telecare by 2017; supporting them to manage and monitor their condition at home, and reducing the need for avoidable visits to their general practitioner practice and hospital.
	NHS England’s Technology Enabled Care Services Programme is the national initiative which aims to improve the lives of people with long term conditions through the use of technologies such as telehealth, telecare, telemonitoring, telecoaching and self-care applications.
	NHS England's annual report and assessment of progress against the Mandate will be laid before Parliament this summer.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library copies of the resignation letters from the former chairs of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (a) Dr Geoffrey Harris and (b) Maria Bell; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not hold copies of resignation letters from the former chairs of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
	The hon. Member may wish to approach the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA), which will hold the relevant information. However, the NHS TDA has advised that, as a personal letter, permission would be required before placing this in the public domain in order to meet obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of training for midwives on foetal alcohol syndrome.

Daniel Poulter: The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the national health service. This mandate includes a commitment that HEE will ensure that midwifery training produces midwives with the required competencies to practice in the NHS.
	In the Mandate from the Government to HEE for the period from April 2013 to March 2015 the Government has stated that HEE should work with NHS England and others to ensure that sufficient midwives and other maternity staff are trained and available to provide every woman with personalised one-to-one care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period.
	HEE is leading on the Personalised Maternity Care Project, which will make recommendations on how women who have mental health or substance misuse support requirements will receive appropriate support from specialised trained midwives.

General Practitioners

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP surgeries (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and Ministers in his Department have undertaken the following visits to general practitioner (GP) surgeries in the last 12 months:
	
		
			 5 July 2013 Mr Jeremy Hunt Earls Court Health and Wellbeing Centre 
			 5 September 2013 Mr Jeremy Hunt RK Medical Practice 
		
	
	
		
			 16 January 2014 Mr Jeremy Hunt Roxton Practice, Pilgrim Primary Care Centre 
			 6 February 2014 Mr Jeremy Hunt Trinity Healthcare Centre 
			 10 April 2014 Mr Jeremy Hunt Lupset Health Centre 
			 26 April 2014 Mr Jeremy Hunt Rowden Medical Practice 
			 12 December 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter Dishley Grange Medical Practice 
			 24 October 2013 Dr Daniel Poulter Rusholme Health Centre 
			 13 February 2014 Dr Daniel Poulter Cumberland GP Practice 
			 27 March 2014 Dr Daniel Poulter Parkside GP Surgery 
			 24 April 2014 Dr Daniel Poulter Grove Medical Centre 
			 28 April 2014 Dr Daniel Poulter Raynes Park Health Centre 
			 17 July 2014 Dr Daniel Poulter Colne Health Centre 
			 5 September 2013 Mr Norman Lamb Gnosall Surgery 
			 12 March 2014 Mr Norman Lamb The Knoll Surgery 
			 16 January 2014 Jane Ellison The Bromley-by-Bow Health Centre

Health

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer on 21 November 2013, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities currently employing acting or interim directors of public health; and what steps he is taking to fill such posts on a more permanent basis.

Jane Ellison: As at 16 July 2014, 107 of the 131 (82%) Director of Public Health posts are filled by substantive roles. The 131 posts cover 152 local authorities, as some have agreed joint/shared arrangements. There are currently 24 positions vacant (18%). All vacancies are covered by interim/acting arrangements with the exception of one recently vacant post where Public Health England (PHE) is working actively with the council to secure interim arrangements.
	Of the 24 current vacancies, 15 are under active recruitment in which adverts have been released and/or interview dates set, and nine are the subject to discussion between PHE and the local authority on the development and approval of a job description.

Health Services

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how NHS England evaluates service specific A3 change proposals for its five-year strategy development for specialised services; when authors of those proposals will learn the outcomes of their proposals; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how NHS England’s specialised commissioning taskforce intends to incorporate work submitted by (a) clinical reference groups and (b) other stakeholders in response to its requests for A3 change proposals to inform the development of its five year strategy for specialised services; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what progress NHS England has made on development of the (a) mission and vision and (b) service-level planning elements of its five year strategy for specialised services; when publication of that strategy is expected; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  when NHS England plans to publish its five year strategy for specialised services; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: NHS England established the specialised commissioning taskforce to make some immediate improvements to the way in which NHS England commissions specialised services, and to put commissioning arrangements on a stronger footing for the longer-term. The taskforce is not conducting a complete review of specialised commissioning, although there are some aspects of this work which will require some specific services or arrangements to be reviewed. The life of the taskforce was originally three months running from May to July 2014: this has now been extended to the end of October 2014.
	The publication and application of the specialised services strategy have been paused while the taskforce undertakes its work. At this stage, NHS England is yet to confirm when the strategy will be published. However, many aspects of the work of the taskforce will contribute to taking the strategy work forward later in the year.
	Information on the work on development of the mission and vision and service-level planning elements of the specialised services strategy, prior to the pause, is available on the following webpages:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/five-year-strat/mission-vision/
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/five-year-strat/service-level-plan/
	NHS England has advised that the A3 change proposals were a pilot process to establish how NHS England might be able to achieve multiple stakeholder involvement on future service change. Proposals that demonstrate good opportunities to increase value and contain cost have moved into the quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) programme for specialised services. Other proposals which support strategic service planning continue to be considered. Authors with proposals that do not meet the objectives of QIPP or strategic services planning will be informed within the next few weeks.

Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce inequalities covering his public health functions for the whole population.

Jane Ellison: Reducing health inequalities is a Government priority, shown by our introduction of the first-ever set of health inequalities duties in the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.
	Public health has a key role to play in reducing health inequalities across the whole population through ill health prevention and helping reduce premature, avoidable mortality. We transferred responsibility for improving public health from the national health service to local government to bring greater effectiveness and innovation in responding to local health needs. We provided local government with a ring-fenced grant of £5.36 billion.
	At local level, Directors of Public Health will champion these health needs and work with local government, NHS colleagues and other sectors to address them.
	We established Public Health England (PHE) to provide leadership, and to protect and improve the public's health and well-being and reduce health inequalities. It supports action on health inequalities at local and national level by promoting good practice and building on the evidence of 'what works'.
	We have recently published ‘Living Well for Longer’ (April 2014) which provides national support for local action on reducing premature mortality. It sets out what PHE and NHS England will do alongside the Department and the rest of Government to address avoidable and premature mortality across the population, including vulnerable groups such as those on low-income and those with mental illness.

Health: Business

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations have withdrawn from the Responsibility Deal; and for what reason they so withdrew.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations have withdrawn from the Responsibility Deal; and for what reason they withdrew.

Jane Ellison: Since its launch in March 2011, 61 organisations have withdrawn from the Responsibility Deal (RD). At 18 July 2014, there were 690 RD partners.
	A list of the organisations who have withdrawn from the RD since its launch is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Name of Organisation Reason for Withdrawal 
			 Association of Directors of Public Health Concern over certain aspects of Government policy. 
			 Badminton England Lack of resources and time to deliver on pledges. 
			 Bennett Hay Lack of resources. 
			 Birmingham City Council Concern over certain aspects of Government policy. 
			 Business In Sport and Leisure Ceased operation. 
			 Business Room 52 Company no longer trading. 
			 Cancer Research UK Concern over certain aspects of Government policy. 
			 Cancer Support Organisation no longer exists. 
			 Capita Business Services Limited No longer wish to participate in the Responsibility Deal. 
			 Centrica Lack of resources in organisation to manage delivery of pledges. 
			 Cigna European Services (UK) Ltd Company restructuring – Lack of resources. 
			 Creating Excellence Company merged with Equity Communications to create new org, Inspired Exchange which has signed up. 
			 D&D Wines Company no longer trading. 
			 Energie Fitness, Hackney Club No longer wished to be signed up to the RD. 
			 Entourage Security Ltd Lack of resources. 
			 Equity Communications Has merged with Creating Excellence to create new org, Inspired Exchange which has signed up. 
		
	
	
		
			 Excelsior Academy Unable to deliver on pledge. 
			 Faculty of Public Health Concern over certain aspects of Government policy. 
			 Federation of Bakers Company unable to deliver on pledges. 
			 Federation of Sports and Play Limited resources. 
			 Fit4Less Ceased operation. 
			 GE Money Truro Lack of resources to deliver on pledges. 
			 HealthTec South West Ltd Company no longer trading. 
			 Indulgence Patisserie Limited Concern over RD reporting requirements. 
			 ISS Facility Services Healthcare Lack of resources. 
			 John Paul II Foundation for Sport Lack of resources. 
			 Kier Construction - Major Projects No longer relevant to specific site - the whole organisation signed up. 
			 L'Aquila Unable to deliver on pledge. 
			 Link4Life Lack of resources. 
			 London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Lack of resources. 
			 London Bread and Cake Co Ltd Lack of publicity or appreciation. 
			 Maisons Marques et Domaines Ltd Unable to deliver on pledges. 
			 Meditation Foundation (The) No longer wished to be signed up to the RD. 
			 MEND Company no longer trading. 
			 NHS Employers Part of NHS Confederation which is signed up. 
			 NHS North East Essex Lack of resources. 
			 NHS Sport & Physical Activity Champion Unable to deliver on pledges. 
			 Paramount Restaurants Limited Company no longer trading. 
			 Powerplate International Company no longer trading. 
			 Pride Catering Partnership Ltd Lack of resources. 
			 Prince's Trust Teesside Lack of resources. 
			 Produced in Italy Company no longer trading. 
			 Punch Pub Company Company no longer trading. 
			 Samworth Brothers Ltd Ceased to exist. 
			 Scott's Distribution Company in liquidation. 
			 Shokk Projects Ltd Restructuring of company led to change in focus of the business. 
			 SkinniMalinx Ltd Ceased to exist. 
			 South West Essex Community Services Now incorporated with North East London Foundation NHS trust which is a partner. 
			 Staying Healthy at Work Employer Champions Group Programme ceased. 
			 TFC Wines & Spirits Inc Company no longer trading in UK. 
			 The Little Smoked Food Company Ltd Unable to deliver on pledges. 
			 The Mappin Group Lack of resources to deliver on pledge. 
			 The Self Centre No longer wish to be part of the RD. 
			 TRAC Services Lack of time and lack of appreciation. 
			 University of Northampton (The) Lack of resources. 
			 Vela Group Ceased operation. 
			 Vibrofit Ltd Hove No longer wished to be signed up to the RD. 
			 Walk England Lack of resources. 
			 Waverley TBS Company no longer trading. 
			 Wellbeing Sport Company no longer trading. 
			 Wheels for Wellbeing Lack of resources.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the cessation of manufacturing of the MSD Oestradiol implant in August 2011, what discussions his Department has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the licensing of a new HRT implant.

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is not responsible for the licensing of medicines, which is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the European Medicines Agency.

Hospitals: North East

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how long the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust's submission on a new hospital at Wynyard has been considered by his Department;
	(2)  what the reasons are for the time taken to make a decision on the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust's submission on a new hospital at Wynyard;
	(3)  when he expects to make a decision on the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust's submission on a new hospital at Wynyard.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is currently considering the business case submitted by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust in August 2013. It is not possible to give an indication of when a final decision on the case will be made. The proposals represent a very significant financial commitment and it is vital we ensure they are value for money and affordable to the Trust.

Hysterectomy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in each age group had hysterectomies in the UK in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available in the format requested.
	The table shows information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13.
	
		
			 Count of Finished Consultant Episodes1 for female patients with a main or secondary procedure2 of hysterectomy3, by age, 2008-09 to 2009-10 
			 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			 Age 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 1 1 1 1 - - 
			 2 - 1 - - 1 
			 3 - 1 - - 1 
			 11 - - 1 - 1 
			 12 - 1 - - - 
			 13 3 2 1 3 1 
			 14 - 2 1 - 1 
			 15 2 2 1 5 2 
			 16 1 2 2 - 1 
			 17 1 1 3 7 3 
			 18 1 2 5 4 4 
			 19 1 5 7 3 2 
			 20 5 4 5 4 2 
			 21 8 3 12 7 6 
			 22 8 10 11 11 12 
		
	
	
		
			 23 18 16 8 15 12 
			 24 33 25 24 27 29 
			 25 42 46 43 47 35 
			 26 68 61 59 51 60 
			 27 85 102 81 84 71 
			 28 122 112 105 100 98 
			 29 136 159 136 125 157 
			 30 176 186 186 173 190 
			 31 200 255 208 226 230 
			 32 271 279 254 256 240 
			 33 335 323 292 291 303 
			 34 442 434 341 388 321 
			 35 558 544 495 444 373 
			 36 728 611 597 521 457 
			 37 904 807 699 682 564 
			 38 975 945 912 797 705 
			 39 1,146 1,114 1,107 969 873 
			 40 1,396 1,383 1,279 1,221 1,129 
			 41 1,559 1,562 1,512 1,442 1,268 
			 42 1,657 1,673 1,769 1,580 1,455 
			 43 1,882 1,807 1,883 1,692 1,596 
			 44 2,094 2,050 2,012 1,924 1,768 
			 45 1,998 2,068 2,180 2,060 1,999 
			 46 2,083 2,118 2,045 2,086 2,021 
			 47 1,940 2,019 1,912 2,044 2,082 
			 48 1,755 1,839 1,914 1,972 1,954 
			 49 1,585 1,608 1,573 1,726 1,768 
			 50 1,417 1,387 1,430 1,494 1,516 
			 51 1,213 1,178 1,237 1,334 1,302 
			 52 1,076 1,117 1,077 1,148 1,204 
			 53 931 991 1,057 1,055 1,046 
			 54 860 836 869 919 895 
			 55 838 858 844 843 854 
			 56 870 838 836 837 856 
			 57 758 784 821 769 760 
			 58 828 773 755 794 756 
			 59 880 829 790 808 734 
			 60 950 858 883 838 759 
			 61 1,046 968 880 812 742 
			 62 948 1,050 940 977 849 
			 63 783 920 1,113 991 904 
			 64 891 815 902 1,127 948 
			 65 817 916 820 950 1,032 
			 66 724 788 864 845 901 
			 67 626 765 815 909 813 
			 68 688 705 746 851 846 
			 69 730 700 662 777 782 
			 70 694 706 667 661 704 
			 71 635 689 603 655 574 
			 72 625 662 655 657 649 
			 73 572 655 640 670 642 
			 74 569 602 561 619 586 
			 75 495 493 563 520 527 
			 76 437 405 495 532 520 
			 77 498 456 445 474 465 
			 78 417 425 404 406 416 
			 79 348 370 388 336 382 
			 80 255 287 316 309 300 
			 81 239 244 240 263 298 
			 82 249 225 239 251 252 
			 83 191 169 204 204 207 
			 84 163 154 151 194 156 
		
	
	
		
			 85 135 130 117 141 123 
			 86 109 102 108 120 95 
			 87 96 100 87 91 89 
			 88 84 81 82 51 60 
			 89 40 55 55 51 42 
			 90+ 83 85 76 78 101 
			 Unknown 70 66 54 79 115 
			 Total 49,097 49,420 49,167 49,427 47,597 
			 1 Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 2 Number of episodes with a main or secondary procedure The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 4 prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. 3. OPCS codes for hysterectomy The following OPCS codes have been used to identify a hysterectomy procedure: Q07 Abdominal excision of uterus Q08 Vaginal excision of uterus R25.1 Caesarean hysterectomy Note: There were no hysterectomy procedures for females aged 4 to 10-years-old, from 2008-09 to 2009-10. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)

Liver Diseases: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2014, Official Report, column 516W, on liver diseases, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in hospital admissions for primary and secondary liver disease in children since 2010.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has made no formal assessment of the reasons for the increase in hospital admissions for primary and secondary liver disease in children since 2010.

London Underground

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with Transport for London the installation of hand sanitisers on London Underground trains and platforms.

Jane Ellison: Hand sanitisers can make an additional useful contribution to reduction of carriage of bacteria and viruses on the hands. However, the mainstay for reduction in transmission of bacteria and viruses remains regular washing of hands with soap and water. There has not been a trial of the use of hand sanitisers in public places such as train stations so there is no evidence for how effective an intervention like this might be. The Director of the London office of Public Health England and health adviser to the Mayor of London will raise the issue with Transport for London.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the Chief Executive of NHS England has not replied to the letter of 30 May 2014 from the right hon. Member for Chelmsford on behalf of his constituent Mr John McPhee; and when he expects a substantive response to the letter.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has advised that a response has now been sent to my right hon. Friend. The earlier failure to acknowledge my right hon. Friend's correspondence was due to an administrative error within NHS England's processes, which has now been rectified.

Monitor

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent NHS England is obliged to follow guidance issued by Monitor.

Jane Ellison: It is the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No. 2) Regulations 2013 that place requirements on NHS England, including requirements as to good practice in relation to procurement.
	Enforcement of the procurement requirements by Monitor may only follow its investigation of a complaint that there has been a failure by a commissioner to comply with the requirements. Monitor has published guidance for NHS England and other commissioners of healthcare services which provides advice on how to comply with the regulations. Monitor expects to follow the interpretation of the regulations that it has set out in its guidance when exercising its enforcement powers under the regulations.
	In addition, to the extent that NHS England acts as a commissioner of services, it has a legal duty to have regard to guidance which Monitor publishes for commissioners of services which are designated as 'commissioner requested services'. Before publishing the guidance or any revisions to it, Monitor must have first consulted NHS England.

NHS: Finance

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of the NHS budget allocated to (a) diabetes, (b) cancer, (c) dementia and (d) cardiovascular disease.

Jane Ellison: NHS England allocates funding to clinical commissioning groups, which are responsible for distributing that funding in line with local clinical need. Funding is not generally allocated by disease area.
	However, the following table shows the most recent figures collated by NHS England on primary care trust (PCT) expenditure in 2012-13 on diabetes, cancer, organic mental health disorders (including dementia) and problems of circulation (including cardiovascular disease). These figures exclude strategic health authority and arm's length body expenditure.
	
		
			  Expenditure (£ billion) Expenditure (% of overall PCT expenditure) 
			 Diabetes 1.54 1.6 
			 Cancer 5.68 6.0 
			 Organic mental health disorders (including dementia) 1.52 1.6 
			 Problems of circulation 6.90 7.3 
		
	
	NHS England has also identified around £90 million annually that is available nationally to the national health service to support timely diagnosis of dementia and to ensure that by 2015, two-thirds of people with dementia have a diagnosis and receive appropriate support following diagnosis.
	Notes on interpretation:
	Expenditure data included here is taken from the 2012-13 programme budgeting returns. Programme budgeting returns are based on a subset of PCT accounts data and represent a subset of overall NHS expenditure data.
	Calculating programme budgeting data is complex and not all health care activity or services can be classified directly to a programme budgeting category or care setting. When it is not possible to reasonably estimate a programme budgeting category, expenditure is classified as “Other”. Expenditure on general medical services and personal medical services cannot be reasonably estimated at disease specific level, and is separately identified as a subcategory of “Other” expenditure.
	The allocation of expenditure to programme budgeting subcategories is not always straightforward, and subcategory level data should therefore be used with caution.
	Estimates, of expenditure are calculated using price paid for specific activities and services purchased form health care providers. PCTs follow standard guidance, procedures and mappings when calculating programme budgeting data.

Patients' Rights

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning which individuals in care homes and hospitals should be subject to a deprivation of liberty assessment; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: On 19 March 2014, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment that clarified the test for what constitutes a deprivation of liberty. The clarified test is:
	“An individual who lacks the mental capacity to consent to the arrangements for his or her care and is under continuous control and supervision and is not free to leave”.
	Following the judgment, the Department issued an advice note to health and care professionals and local authorities to highlight this legal interpretation and its implications.
	The Department is currently monitoring the effects of the judgment on the health and care system and on local authorities. The Health and Social Care Information Centre will carry out an additional voluntary data collection. This will gather information from local authorities on how many applications have been received for authorisations in care homes and hospitals under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards since the judgment. We expect the data to be available in October 2014; this will facilitate an assessment of the judgment’s impact.
	At the Department’s request, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is leading a task group to consider the implications of the judgment. This group has representation from local authorities, NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and the Department. The group intends to issue advice in the autumn.

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason none of the £42 million his Department has made available for increasing the use of radiotherapy is to be spent on treating cancer patients with Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy this year.

Jane Ellison: In July 2011, the National Radiotherapy Implementation Group concluded that current evidence supports treatment with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for only a small number of patients. The evidence supports its use in the treatment of early stage lung cancers for patients who are unsuitable for surgery (approximately 1,000 per annum).
	NHS England recognises the positive clinical impact that its national policy on SABR for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer has had. It is currently examining the potential use of SABR in patients with oligometastatic disease—where a cancer is in the early stages of spreading.
	NHS England is also currently undertaking a review of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and SABR for intracranial conditions to establish what the national demand is in line with its national clinical commissioning policies on SRS and SABR, and what the national capacity requirements are for this specialised treatment. Following the review, it is planned that a final decision will be taken by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group in October 2014.
	Later this year, the Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group will review its current policy position on SABR to assess whether there is new evidence to recommend its use on other conditions. It is important to ensure that treatments commissioned are supported by robust evidence of their benefit to patients.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England plan to take to reduce premature mortality from respiratory disease.

Jane Ellison: The NHS Outcomes Framework 2014-15 sets out the Department’s priority areas for the national health service and includes reducing deaths from respiratory disease as a key indicator. In addition to this, the Mandate sets out the requirements for NHS England to improve outcomes in a range of areas, including preventing premature deaths from the biggest killers (including respiratory) and supporting people with long term physical and mental health conditions.
	‘Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Mortality’, launched in April, sets out what the health and care system will do to achieve the Government’s ambition to be among the best in Europe at reducing levels of premature mortality. It brings together in one place the national actions taken by the Department of Health and wider Government, NHS England and Public Health England, in prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, focusing on the five big killers, including lung disease, and shows how they will support local leadership and interventions.
	The Department has supported a number of initiatives to help improve outcomes for people with respiratory disease. In July 2011, it published an outcomes strategy for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in England, which sets out six high-level objectives to improve outcomes in these areas through high quality prevention, detection, treatment and care services. The Department has also supported the publication of a good practice guides on services for adults with asthma, which was published in 2012.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Quality Standards for COPD and for asthma setting out the markers of high-quality, cost-effective care and the implementation of these will also raise the standard of care people with these conditions receive.
	The Department has collaborated with the National Review of Asthma Deaths which is examined the circumstances surrounding deaths from asthma from 1 February 2012 to 30 January 2013 and reported on its findings in May of this year. Lessons learnt about the factors that contribute to asthma deaths will inform the NHS about what constitutes good care, and encourage the development of appropriate services for people with asthma.
	Public Health England recently ran a local pilot campaign in Oldham and Rochdale to raise awareness among the public about the importance of visiting their general practitioner with symptoms of breathlessness.

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will take steps to ensure that (a) estates maintenance for the Royal Sussex County Hospital remains in-house following the 3Ts redevelopment and (b) (i) catering, (ii) portering, (iii) cleaning and (iv) other soft ancillary services currently outsourced to Sodexo are brought in-house at the end of its contract in 2017 and remain in-house under the redeveloped hospital; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of the beds and what proportion of the facilities planned under the 3Ts redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital are planned to be used by private patients; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The decision to outsource or bring services in-house is the responsibility of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Board, which will make these decisions in due course.
	We are advised by the NHS Trust Development Authority that the trust has not earmarked beds for the use of private patients. The trust has made a small allowance of 633 square metres of floor area for private patient facilities within the new development (representing 0.68% of the total planned floor area), but not bed capacity. The cost of equipping this area would fall either directly to the trust or a private patient facility operator, and the Trust Board will decide in due course whether to proceed with a private patient facility or an alternative use. We understand that any money generated from private patients would be reinvested to directly benefit national health service patients at the hospital.

Vaccination

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of moving the immunisation co-ordinator role from primary care trust into commissioning positions on the availability of immunisation advice to nurse-based practitioners.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) Screening and Immunisation Teams, including immunisation co-ordinators, have been embedded within NHS England area teams since 1 April 2013.
	Immunisation advice remains available to health professionals, including nurse-based practitioners, through local PHE Health Protection Teams and Screening and Immunisation Teams within NHS England, who are supported by a national expert advice line. Comprehensive web-based advice including such resources as frequently asked questions, also remain available.
	We have not made any specific assessment of the possible effect on the availability of immunisation advice to nurse-based practitioners by PHE in this context.

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty: Northern Ireland

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the direct financial benefit of the abolition of air passenger duty bands C and D to airports in Northern Ireland.

Priti Patel: The abolition of Air Passenger Duty bands C and D cuts up to £52 per passenger off the cost of a journey originating in Northern Ireland, including connecting flights.

Air Travel

John Woodcock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions each Minister within his Department has taken domestic flights on official business since May 2010.

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2014, Official Report, column 675W, on official visits, what domestic visits each of the Ministers of his Department has made since January 2013; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Andrea Leadsom: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Details of all ministerial overseas travel are published on a quarterly basis and can be found at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications

Business: Taxation

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unresolved tax enquiries there were in the Large Business Service (LBS) in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to date; and how many unresolved tax enquiries in the LBS are (i) one year old and (ii) more than three years old.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC’s) Large Business Service dealt with the tax affairs of the 800 or so largest businesses in the UK up to 31 March 2014. HMRC’s approach has enabled it to recover around £31 billion in additional compliance revenues from large businesses, including those dealt with by Large Business Service, between April 2010 and March 2014.
	The number of tax risks under enquiry in the Large Business Service at the relevant dates were:
	
		
			  Number 
			 31 March 2009 2,477 
			 31 March 2010 3,230 
			 31 March 2011 2,721 
			 31 March 2012 2,375 
			 31 March 2013 2,314 
			 31 March 2014 2,367 
		
	
	HMRC deals with large business risks quickly, despite their complexity. In most cases it reaches a decision within 18 months.
	From 1 April 2014, HMRC’s new Large Business directorate deals with the tax affairs of the 2,100 largest business in the UK.

Business: Taxation

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed by HM Revenue and Customs in the Large Business Service (LBS) in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15 to date; and how many companies the LBS worked with in each of those years.

David Gauke: In 2013-14 HMRC’s Large Business Service (LBS) dealt with the tax affairs of the 800 largest businesses in the UK. At 31 March 2014, HMRC employed 1,303 staff in LBS, equivalent to 1,198 full-time posts.
	From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s new Large Business (LB) directorate deals with the tax affairs of the 2,100 largest businesses in the UK.

Consumers: Credit

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether consumer credit firms and peer-to-peer platforms located outside the UK but within the European Economic Area will (a) need to be authorised or supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority and (b) continue to be able to lend money online to UK consumers under the terms of the EU Electronic Commerce Directive.

Andrea Leadsom: In general, firms which are established outside the UK and which carry on a regulated activity in the UK require permission from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and come under FCA supervision.
	Consumer credit firms and peer-to-peer platforms which are established outside the UK but within the European economic area (EEA) may only provide services in the UK without permission from the FCA if they do so as an ‘information society services’ (ISS) under the electronic commerce directive. This means that the firm must be operating exclusively online and have no physical presence in the UK.
	The Government has announced that it intends to give the FCA new powers to take action against credit firms trying to abuse its rights under the e-commerce directive to avoid FCA regulation.

Credit: Interest Rates

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that pay day loan companies are restricted from deliberately intimidating their customers.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has fundamentally reformed the regulation of the payday lending market. Regulatory responsibility for consumer credit transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April. The FCA has transposed key parts of the OFT’s Debt Collection Guidance into binding rules, which sets out the types of business practices considered unfair and incompatible with fitness to operate.
	The FCA is undertaking a thematic review into payday lenders’ debt collection practices to ensure that firms treat customers who are struggling with repayments fairly. The FCA expects to publish the final report early in 2015 which will set out what practices it has found across the market and how it expects all firms in the market to make sure they are observing the right standards of behaviour.

First Time Buyers

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the success of steps taken to encourage and facilitate first time buyers and young people to get onto the property ladder.

Andrea Leadsom: The Help to Buy scheme is helping hardworking people realise their home-owning aspirations across the UK. Over 27,000 households have bought a new home through Help to Buy so far, and 85% of these have been first-time buyers. Between 2011-12 and 2013-14 11,000 first time buyers were helped through the FirstBuy scheme.

Local Government: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in applying aspects of the City Deal in Wales, in accordance with the undertaking given in paragraph 1.236 of the autumn statement 2013.

Danny Alexander: Autumn statement 2013 committed the Government to delivering an ambitious City Deal for Glasgow by working with the Scottish Government and local delivery partners. Following the announcement of the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal (Heads of Terms Agreement) on 4 July, the UK Government is now working with the Scottish Government and local councils in Glasgow to finalise the deal.
	This is a new approach to working with a city in a part of the UK where the UK Government, the relevant devolved Administration and local bodies have responsibilities which overlap and complement each other. As the next step, we hope to conclude the Glasgow City Deal, and take the opportunity to assess its immediate impact and longer-term out-workings.
	Given the complexity of this process, we believe it is prudent to ensure this assessment can be undertaken before exploring the potential application of the City Deal process more widely across the U.K. At that point, the lessons learned from Glasgow on funding, governance, responsibility and accountability covering a range of bodies should be clearer.
	Separately, the UK Government is providing the Welsh Government with new tax and borrowing powers through the Wales Bill, the latter of which will further enable the Welsh Government to decide when and how to invest in infrastructure in Wales. And in advance of the powers in the Wales Bill being implemented, we have agreed that the Welsh Government can use its existing, more limited, borrowing powers to proceed with improvements to the M4, should it choose to do so.

Mortgages

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce the bureaucracy required to apply for a new mortgage.

Andrea Leadsom: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently put in place new regulations for mortgages in the UK, known as the ‘Mortgage Market Review’ (MMR). The MMR is a matter for the FCA, whose day-to-day operations are independent from Government control and influence.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much and what proportion of his Department’s budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of his Department’s budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

Andrea Leadsom: The Departments accounting system does not separately identify spend on activities which are contracted out; this information could not be extracted within the disproportionate cost threshold.

Public Expenditure: North West

Tim Farron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the amount of money from the public purse invested in public projects in (a) Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, (b) South Lakeland, (c) Cumbria and (d) the North West (i) since 2010 and (ii) between 2005 and 2010.

Danny Alexander: Data on money from the public purse invested in public projects in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, South Lakeland and Cumbria is not centrally available. The Department for Communities and Local Government collect information on local authority current and capital expenditure, however, this forms just part of total public expenditure.
	In addition, there is no central source on money from the public purse invested in public projects in the English regions. However, the following table shows total identifiable capital expenditure on services in the north-west.
	
		
			 Total identifiable capital expenditure on services: north-west 
			  £ million 
			 2005-06 3,632 
			 2006-07 4,442 
			 2007-08 5,235 
			 2008-09 5,866 
			 2009-10 6,010 
			 2010-11 5,608 
			 2011-12 4,503 
			 2012-13 4,970 
			 Note: 2008-09 to 2012-13 are comparable as they are on the same basis and were collected as part of the same exercise. Data in prior years will not be fully comparable due to possible changes to methodology between each collection exercise. Source: 2008-09 to 2012-13: Country and Regional Analyses (CRA) 2013; 2007-08: CRA 2012; 2006-07: CRA 2011; 2005-06: PESA 2011.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Chris Heaton-Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many adults claim child tax credit for children not residing in the UK; and for how many children such UK child benefit is claimed.

Priti Patel: The main purpose of child benefit and the child tax credit is to support families in the UK. Consequently, the rules for these benefits generally do not provide for them to be paid in respect of children who live abroad.
	Nevertheless, both child benefit and the child tax credit are family benefits under EC Regulation 883/2004. This regulation protects the social security rights of nationals of all member states of the European economic area, including the UK, and Switzerland when they exercise their rights of free movement under EU law.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 14 May 2014, Official Report, columns 676-77W, for details about the number of claims for family benefits paid under the EC Regulations for children resident in another member state and which member states such children reside.

Taxation: Rebates

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many taxpayers qualified for a refund on their 2013-14 tax payments; how many of them received the refund; and what the average value is of these refunds;
	(2)  what average length of time was taken to provide individual taxpayers with refunds of overpaid tax in (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and (b) the preceding four years.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) refunds tax to individual customers for different types of taxes throughout the year. HMRC endeavours to refund tax as soon as practicable after they identify tax is to be refunded.

Tobacco: Excise Duties

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will lower tax duty on cigarettes.

Priti Patel: Budget 2014 announced that tobacco duty rates will continue to rise by 2% above RPI each year until the end of the next Parliament.

VAT

Gary Streeter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reduce VAT on flood defence works carried out by individual householders to help protect their own homes against flooding.

David Gauke: There are no plans for legislative proposals to reduce VAT on flood defence works.
	The Government has responded to the recent floods in a decisive way by offering a package of initiatives, including a “renew and repair” grant of £5,000 to provide financial support for households and businesses.
	Details of the new funding schemes for homeowners and businesses in flood hit areas were announced on 20 February by the Prime Minister.
	Further information on this is available on the UK Government web-site at:
	www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-details-of-flood-support-packages.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the testing of household products on animals.

Norman Baker: We have made a commitment to ban the testing of household products on animals. Although superficially straightforward, the details are not been easy to resolve. Any solution has to be legally viable since we cannot ban testing which may be required under UK or EU law.
	The key issue is around ingredients. I am looking to develop a solution that is workable, but does not have a chain of unforeseen circumstances. It is my intention to implement a ban before the next general election in May 2015.

Asylum: Females

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were detained whilst seeking asylum for (a) less than three days, (b) between four and seven days, (c) between eight and 14 days, (d) between 15 and 28 days, (e) between 29 days and three months, (f) between three months and one year and (g) over one year in the latest year for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: The data in the following table refers to main, female claimants who have raised a claim for asylum and been detained in the year 2013-14, and who have been detained either on or after the day that a claim for asylum was raised.
	The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			 Period of detention Number of cases 
			 Less than or equal to 3 days 274 
			 Between 4 and 7 days 216 
			 Between 8 and 14 days 159 
			 Between 15 and 28 days 138 
			 Between 29 days and 3 months 278 
			 Between 3 months and 1 year 94 
			 Greater than 1 year n/a

Asylum: Females

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of women who have been detained pending their asylum claims were subsequently granted asylum in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: The data in the following table refers to main, female claimants who have raised a claim for asylum and been detained in the financial year 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, and who have been detained either on or after the day that a claim for asylum was raised. Claimants who have had more than one period of detention are recorded under the latest period of detention.
	The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			 Year of detention (financial year) Percentage of grants 
			 2011-12 35 
			 2012-13 34 
			 2013-14 27

Asylum: Females

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women who have sought asylum in the UK in each year since 2010 have (a) been granted asylum, (b) been detained pending application and (c) been refused asylum and removed.

James Brokenshire: The data provided in the following table relates to females who applied for asylum as the main asylum applicant between 2010 and 2013. Claimants who have had more than one period of detention in the three financial years specified, have been recorded under the latest period of detention. Cases represented in the following table are those that, at the latest case outcome, have been; granted asylum, detained or refused and removed on or before 31 March 2014.
	The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			  Year in which claim for asylum was raised 
			  2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Granted asylum 2,140 2,285 2,515 1,715 
			 Detained 487 630 834 1,020 
			 Refused and removed 739 668 531 376

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason fire sprinklers were not installed at Campsfield house, Oxfordshire prior to the fire in those premises in October 2013.

Karen Bradley: Campsfield house was fully compliant with fire safety requirements at the time of the fire in October 2013.
	Other older centres, including Campsfield (which is a former HMPS facility) and all the prison sites utilised as immigration removal centres, have had comprehensive fire strategies that do not involve automated fire suppression systems. Sprinklers are one of several options available for fire prevention.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who met the costs of damaged caused by the fire in October 2013 at Campsfield House, Oxfordshire.

Karen Bradley: The cost of the re-instatement of Campsfield House was met fully by the operator, MITIE, and their insurers.

Consultants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was of external consultants employed by her Department in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014 to date.

James Brokenshire: Consultancy expenditure incurred by the Home Department and its agencies is published annually in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the House Library. The figures from each year's report are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 (to Period 3) 
			 Home Office HQ 37,107 27,222 12,224 16,277 — 
			 UK Border Agency 15,630 3,023 1,128 907 —- 
			 Identity and Passport Service1 8,044 1,871 1,209 — — 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 52 195 — — — 
			 National Fraud Authority — — 22 — — 
			 Home Office and Agencies — — — — 2,733 
			 Total: 60,833 32,311 14,583 17,184 2,733 
			 1 Renamed as HM Passport Office.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has any plans to increase the number of replies within her Department's working day standard; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: Plans are in place within all correspondence teams to drive up performance and reduce any backlogs. Latest complete monthly figures for replies to hon. Members are 86% within working day target for Home Office HQ and Her Majesty’s Passport Office and 84% within working day target for operational areas (UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force). The operational figure includes letters from hon. Members replied to by officials and Director Generals.

Crimes of Violence: Females

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to tackle gender-based violence in gangs (a) generally and (b) in respect of sexual violence against girls and young women; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The coalition Government’s Ending Gang and Youth Violence programme is the first such programme to tackle the issue of gang-affected women and girls.
	Women and girls who come into contact with street gangs are at greater risk of violence, particularly sexual violence. The Home Office has provided £1.2 million funding for 13 Young People’s Advocates over three years (April 2012 – March 2015). The Advocates provide direct support to young women who have been victims, or are at risk of, sexual violence by gangs.
	Action to protect girls from becoming involved in gang-related crime is set out in the ‘Ending Gang and Youth Violence: One Year On’ (November 2012) and ‘Ending Gang and Youth Violence Annual Report 2013’ (December 2013) documents.
	The reports are available on the GOV.UK website.
	In addition, I have undertaken targeted visits to identify good practice on the ground.

Detention Centres: Internet

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which websites detainees in each immigration detention centre are blocked from accessing.

Karen Bradley: The details of individual blocked websites are not held centrally and could be obtained only by examination of information held at each immigration removal centre (IRC) at disproportionate cost.
	Internet access is not standardised across all IRCs although a review of access is being undertaken to address this.
	Suppliers operating IRCs on behalf of the Home Office use specialised software which screens out prohibited categories of sites or sites whose addresses contain prohibited key words rather than blocking individual website addresses. Prohibited categories are based on safety and security concerns, for example potential terrorist or pornographic sites.

Entry Clearances

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was for a spouse visa appeal to be heard from the time of being refused to a decision by the tribunal in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

HM Passport Office

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport examining officers were employed by HM Passport Office in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The table below shows the number of Her Majesty's Passport Office full-time equivalents working within the passport operational Directorates. The formal record for workforce data is made on the last day of each calendar month. We have therefore provided the data as of 31 March of each year.
	
		
			  Number (FTE) 
			 (a) 2011 2,586 
			 (b) 2012 2,216 
			 (c) 2013 2,389 
			 (d) 2014 2,593 
		
	
	Due to the limitations of the HR management system used prior to December 2010, it is not possible to provide reliable management information below top level for any periods prior to that date.

HM Passport Office

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance indicators for the renewal of existing passports have been met by each passport office administrative centre in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England in each year since 2009.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office does not log performance data at office, regional or home country level. Performance is monitored at a national level as Her Majesty's Passport Office distributes work across the UK estate to manage variation in local levels of passport demand. The cost of identifying the information in the format requested would be disproportionate.
	Information on the number of passports issued each year in the UK is set out in Her Majesty's Passport Office's Annual Report and Accounts. I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member on 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 381W.
	Her Majesty's Passport Office have issued over 4 million passports in the year 2014 to date.

HM Passport Office

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change was in number of (a) part-time and (b) full-time staff in passport offices between 1 May 2014 and 1 July 2014.

James Brokenshire: For the period requested, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) has increased their full-time complement by (a) 8.5 FTE (b) 33 FTE. Since the start of 2014, HMPO has been putting in extra resources to deal with exceptional demand. As a result, over 650 staff have been deployed to front-line operations in HMPO.

HM Passport Office

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance indicators for the renewal of existing passports were met by each passport office administrative centre in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012, (v) 2013 and (vi) 2014 to date.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) does not log performance data at this level. Performance is monitored at a national level as HMPO distributes work across the UK estate to manage variation in local levels of passport demand. The cost of identifying the information in the format requested would be disproportionate.

HM Passport Office

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the total cost to the public purse was of overtime worked in HM Passport Office in June 2014;
	(2)  what the total cost to the public purse was of overtime worked in HM Passport Office in each month between May 2011 and December 2012.

James Brokenshire: The following table provides the level of overtime paid for the period between May 2011 to December 2012. The level of overtime paid for June 2014 was £1,212,006.
	
		
			 Table:Overtime payments made by HMPO for each month between May 2011 and December 2012 
			  2011 2012 
			 January — 46,498 
			 February — 84,342 
			 March — 569,117 
			 April — 436,686 
			 May 18,963 702,602 
			 June 11,100 682,474 
			 July 11,279 229,527 
			 August 20,639 466,549 
			 September 30,709 138,918 
			 October 26,017 109,030 
			 November 70,597 73,558 
			 December 61,035 78,017

HM Passport Office

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much HM Passport Office has spent on couriers to deliver passports in each month since January 2013.

James Brokenshire: The costs of courier services to deliver passports in each month since January 2013 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 HMPO expenditure on couriers: January 2013 to June 2014 
			 £ 
			  2013 2014 
			 January 1,749,203 1,181, 438 
			 February 2,258,035 2,546,493 
			 March 2,053,978 2,537,870 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2,199,322 2,608,914 
			 May 2,689,630 2,659,552 
			 June 2,531,082 3,073,333 
			 July 2,165,764 — 
			 August 2,229,100 — 
			 September 1,392,643 — 
			 October 1,302,506 — 
			 November 1,569,131 — 
			 December 916,701 —

HM Passport Office: Belfast

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were processed by the Belfast Passport Office in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those passports were processed within three weeks.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) does not collect performance data at this level. HMPO monitors performance at national level as it distributes work across the UK estate to manage any variation in local levels of passport demand.
	The cost of identifying information in the format requested would be disproportionate.

HM Passport Office: Glasgow

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were employed in the Glasgow passport office in each of the last four years.

James Brokenshire: The number of full-time equivalent staff employed by Her Majesty’s Passport Office in the Glasgow office are as follows:
	
		
			 As at March each year: Number 
			 2011 158 
			 2012 160 
			 2013 161 
			 2014 165

Human Trafficking

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the nationality and gender of each suspected victim of trafficking to the Trafficking Victim Support Scheme operated by the Salvation Army in May 2014; in which (a) region and (b) county each of the suspected victims was found; which agency referred each person to the Scheme; in which town the shelter was to which they were placed for the relevant period; and what contact is had with each victim after they exit the shelter to ensure they are not re-trafficked.

Karen Bradley: The data requested for May 2014 can be found on The Salvation Army’s website, at:
	http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/Anti_Human_Trafficking_Latest_Report
	In future, monthly reports will be published on the website providing information on victims that have been supported. In the interests of the victim’s safety, only the region in which the victim was encountered will be provided.
	Upon leaving Government-funded care, a victim is provided with tailored support either to safely return home or integrate in the UK, if they are eligible to do so. Once a victim leaves the service, no formal mechanisms exist to maintain contact with them. However, ongoing support of victims is being considered as part of the review of this service and the review of the National Referral Mechanism.

Immigrants: Detainees

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will hold an inquiry into trends in the number of deaths of individuals detained in immigration detention.

James Brokenshire: Any death in immigration detention is a tragic event and each death is subject to independent investigation, as appropriate, by the police, the coroner and the prisons and probation ombudsman.
	Any recommendations made by the investigating authorities are thoroughly examined to see how they can be used to help prevent further tragedies across the detention estate and action plans are drawn up to monitor their implementation.
	For example, firm written reminders were issued to all suppliers on the requirements of the current Detention Services Order on use of handcuffs, which was followed up by a workshop on their appropriate use and the importance of proper risk assessments. Recommendations relevant to medical care for detainees have been shared with NHS England to inform their commissioning of health care services from 1 September 2014.

Land

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much land her Department has released for the purpose of building new homes since May 2010.

Karen Bradley: As of the end of March 2014 the Public Sector Land Programme had disposed of land capable of delivering over 76,000 homes in England.
	The Home Office has contributed land capable of delivering 375 homes to the Programme, we are continuing to rationalise our estate, delivering cost savings and better value for money for the taxpayer.
	In the final year of this programme work is continuing to dispose of land capable of delivering much needed homes and is on course to meet the Government's ambition to dispose of land capable of delivering 100,000 homes by April 2015.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 4 June 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr M Ilyas.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 21 July 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Foreign Secretary dated 2 June 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr H R Chowdhury, transferred to her.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 21 July 2014.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to her dated 2 June 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Miss Olusola Folasade Kayode.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 21 July 2014.

Offences Against Children: Internet

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the people identified to date by the National Crime Agency investigation into online child abuse had previously worked in regulated activity.

Karen Bradley: As operation NOTARISE is an ongoing operation it is not possible to provide this information.
	As a result of this NCA-led operation, individuals who have committed serious offences or are considered to pose a risk to children will be placed on the barred list which will prevent them from working in regulated activity with children.

Passports

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas resident passport applications by UK citizens have been dealt with by HM Passport Office in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The following table provides the requested information:
	
		
			 Number of applications dealt with 
			  Number 
			 2010 0 
			 2011 0 
			 2012 145 
			 2013 82,590 
			 2014, up to 30 June 225,687 
		
	
	The administration of overseas resident passports was repatriated from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2012. Transition arrangements began in December 2012 and were completed in March 2014.

Passports

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of passport applications made in the last 12 months have been processed within (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 working days.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 16 June 2014
	Her Majesty's Passport Office sets out expected turnaround periods for the handling of passport applications based on the type of application and the location from which the application has been made. Straightforward applications are expected to be dealt with within three weeks and non-straightforward applications within six weeks. A minimum period is set out for dealing with overseas applications on a country by country basis. Details of expected turnaround periods are set out at:
	www.GOV.UK
	In the period from June 2013 to May 2014, 44.9% of straightforward passport applications were processed within 5 working days, 90.6% within 10 working days and 99.2% within 15 working days.
	In the same period, 24.3% of non straightforward passport applications were processed within 5 working days, 59.8% within 10 working days and 79.6% within 15 working days.

Passports

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the travel insurance industry regarding cancellations of holidays or business trips due to delays in processing passport applications.

James Brokenshire: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and operational delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website, which is available here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/home-office-mnisters-hospitality-data

Passports

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people who have applied for passports using the (a) fast track and (b) premium service in the last month; and how many recent passport applications will receive compensation from her Department.

James Brokenshire: In June 2014, (a) 59,692 people applied and paid for fast track and (b) 31, 289 applied for premium service. Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) only normally offer compensation for financial loss as a result of delays in their guaranteed (Fast Track and Premium) services. HMPO does not have an estimate of how much compensation may be paid this year in line with their policy. As the Secretary of State announced on 12 June 2014, customers who need to travel within seven days and who have waited more than the three weeks service standard for a straightforward application to be processed through no fault of their own, are fast-tracked free of charge. To 15 July, HMPO has issued 13,461 passports as a result of this change of policy.

Passports

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports were delivered to the wrong person or address by HM Passport Office in each year since 2011.

James Brokenshire: Since Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) started collecting this data in February 2014, 62 cases of passports wrongly delivered or packages damaged on delivery have been reported and investigated by HMPO and resulted in passports being cancelled. Subject to the outcome of the investigation, a new passport is issued to the passport holder. This is 0.0017% of the total passports issued for this period.
	There is no reason to believe this number is higher or lower than at any other point previously.

Passports

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of passports issued for residents of (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012, (v) 2013 and (vi) 2014.

James Brokenshire: The information is not held in the format requested for (a) to (c) above.
	Information on the number of passports issued each year in the UK is set out in Her Majesty's Passport Office's Annual Report and Accounts.
	I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member on 30 June 2014, Official Report, column 381W.
	Her Majesty's Passport Office have issued over four million passports in the year 2014 to date.

Passports

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport renewals for residents in (a) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (b) Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK have been completed within the three weeks from receipt in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012, (v) 2013 and (vi) 2014 to date.

James Brokenshire: The information is not held in the format requested for (a) to (c). Since January 2014 to the end of June, 93% of straightforward passport renewal applications in the UK were dealt with within three weeks and 98% within four weeks.

Passports

Shaun Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for a UK passport have paid an upgrade fee to fast-track their application after having submitted that application at a passport office at each such office and in each of the last 12 months.

James Brokenshire: The information is not collected in the format requested and the cost of collecting the information would be disproportionate.

Passports

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the number of people in (a) Kilmarnock and Loudoun, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK who have used the premium one day service for passport application in each month since January 2014.

James Brokenshire: Figures are not held in the format requested at (a) and (b) above. The cost of obtaining this information would be disproportionate.
	The number of people in the UK who have used the premium service for each month since January 2014 is set out in the following table, which provides intake levels from January 2014 to June 2014 on all applications.
	
		
			 Number 
			 2014 Fast track Premium Standard Total 
			 January 19,301 22,071 510,820 552,192 
			 February 18,410 17,730 586,587 622,727 
			 March 24,716 20,999 660,135 705,850 
			 April 27,688 22,625 631,196 681,509 
			 May 36,535 24,571 665,981 727,087 
			 June 59,692 31,289 676,230 767,211 
			      
			 Total 186,342 139,285 3,730,949 4,056,576

Passports

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on compensating people who have suffered financial loss as a result of delays by HM Passport Office; and how much compensation her Department expects to pay in such fashion.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) criteria for compensation is set out at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about/complaints-procedure
	Detailed guidance is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118588/compensation-complaints-handling.pdf
	HMPO only normally offer compensation for financial loss as a result of delays in their guaranteed (Fast Track and Premium) services. HMPO does not have an estimate of how much compensation may be paid this year in line with their policy. As the Secretary of State announced on 12 June 2014, customers who need to travel within seven days and who have waited more than three weeks for a straightforward application to be processed through no fault of their own, are fast-tracked free of charge.

Passports

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria her Department will apply to compensating individuals who have experienced financial loss following recent delays by HM Passport Office delays.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 17 July 2014
	: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) criteria for compensation is set out at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about/complaints-procedure
	Detailed guidance is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118588/compensation-complaints-handling.pdf
	HMPO only normally offer compensation for financial loss as a result of delays in their guaranteed (Fast Track and Premium) services. HMPO does not have an estimate of how much compensation may be paid this year in line with their policy. As the Home Secretary announced on 12 June 2014, customers who need to travel within seven days and who have waited more than three weeks for a straightforward application to be processed through no fault of their own, are fast-tracked free of charge.

Passports: Lancashire

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many passport applicants resident in (a) Preston constituency and (b) Lancashire have been compensated by HM Passport Service in each year since 2009;
	(2)  how many passport renewals for residents in (a) Preston constituency and (b) Lancashire have been completed within three weeks from receipt in each year since 2009.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) does not collect information on compensation in the format requested. Performance data is not collected at these levels. HMPO monitors performance at national level as it re-distributes work across the UK estate to manage any variation in local levels of passport demand. The cost of identifying information in the format requested would be disproportionate.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much and what proportion of her Department’s budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of her Department’s budget she expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

Karen Bradley: The following table shows what was spent on contracted out activities in the period 2009-10 to 2014-15, as a proportion of the Home Office’s budget.
	
		
			  Financial year 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Spend on activities which were contracted out (£ million) 32.30 74.53 47.88 40.84 48.52 118.35 
			 Total resource departmental expenditure limit budget (£) 9,026.05 12,346.68 11,679.05 11,051.87 10,567.52 10,729.81 
			 Proportion as a percentage (%) 0.36 0.60 0.41 0.37 0.46 1.10 
			 Notes: 1. Her Majesty’s Passport Service was omitted from our 2009-10 figures. At the time, HMPO had its own accounts and budgets. 2. For 2014-15, expenditure on information technology and communications was reclassified from an internal cost, to a contracted out service. 3. Expenditure on information technology and communications was reclassified from an internal cost, to a contracted out service. 4. Between 2009-10 and 2010-11, we restated the core tables to reflect the inclusion of a police grant (relating to the rates) that was previously paid by DCLG, but which at that time, became part of Home Office’s remit. This accounts for the £3 billion step-change in Home Office expenditure.

Remand in Custody: Parents

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department gives to police on ensuring that children whose parents have been arrested and detained are taken care of in the interim.

Michael Penning: The police have a statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004.
	All frontline officers have a crucial role to play in identifying, protecting and safeguarding children. Police officers attending domestic violence incidents, for example, should be aware of the effect of such violence on any children normally resident in the household.
	The College of Policing issues authorised professional practice guidance in relation to detention and custody. This makes clear that staff must be aware of the potential implications of detention for each detainee and their dependants. Detainees should be asked about any caring responsibilities during the booking-in process. This information must be recorded in the risk assessment or other appropriate place in the custody record. If a detainee is identified as having dependants for whom arrangements are required, appropriate arrangements should be made as necessary to find alternative care.

Sexual Offences: Registration

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people on the Sex Offenders Register failed to complete their annual notification in each of the last five years.

Norman Baker: Figures for the number of registered sex offenders who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirement in England and Wales are contained in the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. The MAPPA reports for 2009-2013 may be found on the GOV.uk website.

Sexual Offences: Registration

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which the highest number of previous convictions for failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register for an individual convicted of a further such offence without being sent to prison was in each year since 2010.

Norman Baker: This information is not collated centrally.
	Figures for the number of registered sex offenders who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirement in England and Wales are contained in the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. The MAPPA reports for 2009-2013 may be found on the GOV.uk website.

Slavery

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what funds have been made available to the NSPCC for the establishment and running costs of the modern slavery helpline;
	(2)  who the target demographic is for the modern slavery helpline run in conjunction with the NSPCC; and what services and support will be offered through this helpline.

Karen Bradley: We are working with the NSPCC to pilot a dedicated Modern Slavery Helpline as part of a wider communications and marketing campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery. The NSPCC will be reimbursed for the cost of hosting the hotline, up to a maximum of £50,000 for 12 months from 31 July 2014.
	The purpose of the helpline is to provide potential victims, members of the public and professionals with one consistent telephone number to call if they have concerns related to modern slavery. We are working with a number of non-governmental organisations and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the NSPCC can direct helpline callers to a range of organisations that can provide additional help, advice and support. The helpline will also be a route for potential victims to access Government-funded support. The helpline and website will also provide information and general advice about modern slavery.

Training

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many awaydays her Department has held for officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date; and what the cost was of each such event.

Karen Bradley: The Home Department does not hold centralised information on the number and cost of awaydays held for officials so this question could be answered only at disproportionate cost.
	At the start of this Parliament, Home Office civil servants were issued guidance making clear that awaydays and staff events should be held on official premises where possible.

UK Visas and Immigration

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken for the Director General, UK Visas and Immigration to reply to hon. Members in (a) all and (b) urgent visit visa cases was in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: For 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014, UK Visas and Immigration replied to correspondence from hon. Members within an average of 26 days. Information on the average time taken to reply to urgent visa cases is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRANSPORT

A303

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that the A303 is dualled from Honiton to Amesbury within the next 10 years.

John Hayes: The Department has committed to undertaking six feasibility studies as part of the process of identifying and funding solutions to tackle some of the most notorious and long-standing road hot spots in the country, including the A303/A30/A358 corridor.
	In April this year, the Department published details of the scope, timing and management arrangement of the A303/A30/A358 feasibility study which is available from the Department for Transport website. The aim of the study is to identify the opportunities and understand the case for future investment solutions on the A303/A30/A358 corridor that are deliverable, affordable and offer value for money. The study is considering a range of solutions to the problems identified along the route, including to the problems identified on the sections between Amesbury and Honiton.
	The Government has committed to report back at autumn statement 2014 with solutions to the problems on this route, and through this feasibility study we will identify potential future investment proposals as part of our process for longer term investment planning.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Claire Perry: In 2011, £28,861 of duplicate supplier payments were identified by the Department and its agencies, and were all recovered. No duplicate payments have been identified in subsequent years.
	In accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines, the Department commissioned a spend recovery audit in 2010. This reported that:
	“The quantity of payment errors identified during our review (0.0002%) highlighted that the internal controls used by DfT have been effective in limiting supplier overpayments. Overall the accounts payable function is well managed and controlled.”
	In view of this advice, the DfT decided that formal appraisal of potential duplicate payments, either internal or external, did not represent a good use of public money for the years after 2011.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to increase the number of replies within his Department's working day standard; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Department aims to maintain or improve upon the current high levels of performance. In 2013 Ministers responded to 97% of correspondence from MPs and Peers within the Department’s working day standard. Officials responded to 97% of correspondence from members of the public within the working day standard in 2013-14.

First Transpennine Express

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to replace the Class 170 units transferred to Chiltern Railways from the Transpennine Manchester to Cleethorpes service.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport continue to work with industry partners to develop a solution that will see more electric trains going into the North of England, in addition to the 14 already planned. We envisage that these electric trains will release diesel trains to be used on parts of the network in the North of England that are not yet electrified. The exact detail of this is subject to commercial negotiations and I will update the House as soon as these are concluded.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Claire Perry: As part of the Department's transparency programme, any spend over £25,000 is available on the Department's website. Since January 2011, all contracts over £10,000 in value are published on Contracts Finder
	http://www.contractsfinder.co.uk/

Rail North

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to whom and by what mechanism is Rail North accountable.

Claire Perry: The Rail North consortium has been formed by 30 Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) in the North of England to help deliver a vision for a strengthened role for rail in supporting economic growth in the region. The LTAs are currently formalising Rail North's governance. This will comprise:
	an Association of Local Transport Authorities formed under the Local Government Act 1972, governed by a Leaders' Committee, which all 30 LTAs will be eligible to join;
	a Special Purpose Vehicle {company limited by guarantee) called Rail North Ltd. All LTAs who are members of the Association would be entitled to be members of Rail North Ltd, with each of the geographical subgroups established by the Leaders Committee being able to appoint one elected member to the Board of Rail North Ltd. It is expected that the company will be formed in the next few weeks.

Railways: North of England

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the journey time from Cleethorpes to Manchester Airport on the service proposed in his Department's consultation document on the Transpennine franchise published in June 2014.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport is currently conducting a joint public consultation with Rail North which will inform the specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises
	and concludes 18 August. No estimates of the possible journey time have yet been completed for any of the options set out in the consultation. Further work will be carried out, informed by the consultation, before any decisions are taken.

Railways: North of England

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the potential financial savings that would be incurred in his consultation document on TransPennine and Northern Rail franchises were implemented without change.

Claire Perry: The Department for Transport is currently conducting a joint public consultation with Rail North which will inform the specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises
	and concludes 18 August.
	No estimates of the potential financial savings have yet been completed for any of the options set out in the consultation. Further work will be carried out, informed by the consultation, before any decisions are taken.

Railways: North of England

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which councillors represented on Rail North agreed to the consultation paper issued by his Department on the Transpennine and Northern Rail franchises; and what council each such councillor represented.

Claire Perry: Rail North's decision making process is a matter for them. The Department worked with Rail North representatives on the development of the consultation paper. The consultation itself seeks the views of individual councillors, councils, passengers, and all other interested parties to inform the specifications for both the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises
	and concludes 18 August.

Railways: North of England

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what modifications Rail North made to the proposals recently put to his Department for the Transpennine and Northern Rail franchises.

Claire Perry: The Department worked with Rail North in the development of the consultation document and their views were represented in the options set out and the consultation as a whole. The consultation can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/future-of-northern-and-transpennine-express-rail-franchises
	and concludes 18 August. No decisions have yet been taken.

Railways: North West

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect on rail journeys in (a) Wales and (b) the North West of the upgrade of the Halton Curve.

Claire Perry: The exact service patterns have not yet been determined by Network Rail and stakeholders. Further announcements expected 2016-17.

Railways: North West

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what works will be undertaken as part of the upgrade of the Halton Curve.

Claire Perry: This scheme involves the installation of new crossovers at Halton and Frodsham with a track upgrade enabling trains to operate in both directions. This work reinstates a rail link which will enable passenger services from North Wales and West Cheshire to directly access Liverpool City Centre and Liverpool John Lennon airport. Further details of the work to be provided by Network Rail early next year.

Railways: North West

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what timescale the upgrade of the Halton Curve will follow.

Claire Perry: The Government is providing £10.4 million in support of the Liverpool City Region Growth Deal, to fund the reinstatement of the Halton Curve. The scheme is currently being developed by Network Rail and detailed proposals are expected to be available early next year. Final sign off of funding for the scheme will be for the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and delivery is expected in 2016-17.

Railways: North West

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) Secretary of State for Wales on improving rail connectivity with north Wales utilising the Halton Curve.

Claire Perry: The Secretary of State for Transport met with Edwina Hart the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, National Assembly for Wales on 16 July 2014, to discuss the rail connectivity in north Wales which included Halton Curve.

Railways: Standards

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last discussed Network Rail's punctuality performance in Control Period 4 2009-14 with (a) Network Rail, (b) the Association of Train Operating Companies and (c) other members of the Rail Delivery Group.

Claire Perry: The Secretary of State and ministerial colleagues meet regularly with senior officials from all three organisations, and issues concerning punctuality during Control Period 4 were frequently discussed during the course of that period.

Railways: Standards

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with the Office of Rail Regulation about the level of fine imposed on Network Rail for its punctuality performance in Control Period four 2009-14;
	(2)  what discussions he had with the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) about the fine imposed on Network Rail for punctuality performance in Control Period four 2009-14 (CP4); and when he was informed that the ORR would be fining Network Rail for its punctuality performance in CP4;
	(3)  what mitigating factors the Office of Rail Regulation took into account in its calculation on the fine imposed on Network Rail for punctuality performance in Control Period 4 2009-14.

Claire Perry: The Office of Rail Regulation are an independent statutory body, with powers vested by Parliament in their board. As an independent regulator, the ORR operates within the framework set by UK and EU legislation and is accountable through Parliament and the courts.
	As announced in 2012 see:
	http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/13792/network-rail-monitor-2013-14-q4.pdf
	for details.
	[the] ORR’s Board issued an order that a reasonable sum of £1.5 million would be returned to funders at the end of CP4 for every 0.1 percentage point below the sector regulated target that Network Rail achieved. We have reviewed the available evidence and concluded that Network Rail did not do everything reasonably practicable to achieve the 2013-14 PPM target in the Long Distance sector, and determined that a reasonable sum of £76.8 million would apply. We adjusted the figure to take account of factors which were beyond Network Rail’s reasonable control including extreme weather, and external factors such as suicides and cable theft. The final sum is £53.1 million.
	Ministers and Department officials were briefed by the ORR shortly before the issue of the 2012 order and the final decision on the amount payable, but were not party to either decision.
	DFT Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Office of Rail Regulation to discuss Network Rail’s performance. ORR is the independent economic regulator accountable to Parliament and ORR’s board makes its regulatory decisions independently of Government.

Railways: Standards

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what criteria are used to establish whether delays over five minutes to a timetabled long distance train service are caused by (a) Network Rail, (b) the train operating company or (c) other factors; and what changes have been made to those criteria since January 2008;
	(2)  what his most recent estimate is of the annual number of timetabled passenger train services that arrived (a) within five minutes of and (b) five minutes or more after the scheduled time due to factors attributable to the franchised train operating company in each year since 2004.

Claire Perry: The criteria for establishing delay causes are to be found in the Delay Attribution Guide, issued by the Delay Attribution Board—a joint rail industry body remitted to provide guidance to the industry on delay attribution issues.
	The current guide was issued in April 2014. Copies of the all the guides since 2007 can be seen at:
	http://www.delayattributionboard.co.uk/delayattributionguides.htm
	The Department does not make estimates with regard to the attribution of delay in respect of the annual number of timetabled passenger train services that arrived, either within five minutes or not, of their scheduled arrival time.
	The industry uses the Delay Attribution Guide to attribute delays by total minutes of delay, not by number of trains. The Office of Rail Regulation is beginning to publish such information; see (page11):
	http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/13792/network-rail-monitor-2013-14-q4.pdf
	for the 2013-14 figures as to how industry delay was apportioned for each operator and nationally.

South West Trains

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the punctuality of South West Trains' passenger rail services in each month since that company formally entered into a deep alliance with Network Rail in April 2012.

Claire Perry: The Public Performance Measure is a measurement of train punctuality against the planned services for the day. The Department regularly monitors each operators performance. This includes regular meetings with their senior management where performance figures are scrutinised and challenged.

SCOTLAND

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement of 13 May 2014, Official Report, column 17WS, by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude).
	The information requested is not held in the form requested.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has any plans to increase the number of replies within his Department's working day standard; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has a 15 working day target for responding to correspondence. Performance in meeting the target is kept under regular review by Ministers and senior management.

Sovereignty

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what (a) external organisations and (b) officials in the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland he has engaged with as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such consultation.

David Mundell: The Scotland analysis programme has been the most detailed examination ever undertaken of Scotland’s contribution to the UK and the benefits that Scotland gets from being part of the UK. The UK Government has engaged with a wide range of organisations in the development of and distribution of the analysis, including business organisations, academics and lawyers. The Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland provides the UK Government with advice on Scots law and has been involved throughout the production of all of the Scotland analysis papers, along with officials from across Whitehall.

Sovereignty

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many officials of the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland have been allocated to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; and if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of that work.

David Mundell: Work on the Scotland analysis programme has been undertaken in the course of normal business across Government by policy and legal experts in relevant areas. In the Office of the Advocate-General, any work relating to the Scotland analysis programme and any associated costs have been absorbed by existing teams within the Office of the Advocate-General in addition to their day-to-day responsibilities and from existing budgets. Therefore there have been no additional costs involved in work of the Office of the Advocate-General on the programme.

Sovereignty

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings (a) he and (b) officials of the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland have had with the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West as part of the Scotland Analysis programme; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Alistair Carmichael: As Secretary of State for Scotland, I have met the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling) on two occasions where we discussed issues of importance to the people of Scotland. Officials in the Office of the Advocate-General have not had any meetings with the right hon. Member.

Sovereignty

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what work the Office of the Advocate-General for Scotland has commissioned by external consultants in relation to work on the Scotland Analysis programme; which consultants were used; and how much such consultancy has cost.

David Mundell: The Office of the Advocate-General, jointly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Cabinet Office, instructed independent legal experts, Professor James Crawford and Professor Alan Boyle, to provide the legal Opinion “Referendum on the Independence of Scotland – International Law Aspects”, which was published as an annex to the UK Government’s paper “Devolution and the Implications of Scottish independence”. This consultancy was paid from existing budgets.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Affordable Warmth Programme

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has made compensation payments to householders whose homes have suffered damage from work under the Affordable Warmth Obligation.

Amber Rudd: Consumer protection is an important aspect of any energy efficiency scheme. ECO is an obligation on the largest energy suppliers, and suppliers use in-house operation teams or contract third party installation companies to promote and install energy efficiency improvements in households. Compensation payments would therefore be provided through the energy suppliers or their contractors, not by Government.
	However, we have recently consulted on additional warranty provisions under ECO Affordable Warmth. We will announce the outcome of that consultation shortly.
	Consumers can also access the usual consumer protection routes such as Citizens Advice (08454 04 05 06) and Trading Standards.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Amber Rudd: The Department has identified and recovered the whole of two duplicate supplier payments totalling £1,000 in this period.

Biofuels: Air Pollution

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he plans to publish his final Biomass Emissions and Counterfactual calculator.

Amber Rudd: The Biomass Emissions and Counterfactual calculator is due to be published shortly.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the annual cost to his Department of (a) stationery and (b) postage incurred when sending a ministerial reply to hon. Members; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s estimate of annual costs incurred for ministerial replies to hon. Members is (a) £60 for stationery and (b) £5,000 for postage.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has any plans to increase the number of replies within his Department's working day standard; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: The target for replying to correspondence is 80% in 15 working days—we aim to meet or exceed that target.
	Cabinet Office guidance on correspondence handling states that individual Departments' targets for routine correspondence from MPs should be a maximum of 20 working days.

Economic Benefits of Offshore Oil and Gas Review

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will ensure that trade unions representing workers in the offshore oil and gas sector are included in official discussions about (a) establishing and (b) the regulatory powers of the Oil and Gas Authority recommended by the Wood Review.

Matthew Hancock: We will ensure discussions on the establishment and regulatory powers of the Oil and Gas Authority take place with interested parties as policy develops.

Energy Companies Obligation

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what conversations he has held with (a) energy companies, (b) cavity wall insulation companies and (c) local authorities on the effect of the Government’s changes to the Energy Company Obligation on the UK’s ability to meet its carbon-saving obligations.

Amber Rudd: Ministers and officials have had meetings with many interested parties in recent months, including energy suppliers, insulation companies and local authorities, at which the Government’s proposed changes to the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) were discussed.
	These and other stakeholders, such as consumer organisations and Ofgem, are represented on the ECO Steering Group, which meets on a monthly basis. The terms of reference for the group, along with minutes of meetings and other papers, are made publicly available via Gov.uk:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/energy-company-obligation-eco-steering-group

Energy Companies Obligation

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will hold discussions with cavity wall insulation companies on potential job losses arising from changes in the Energy Company Obligation.

Amber Rudd: The Government will publish its response to the consultation on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) shortly.

Energy: Meters

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many agencies will have access to data collected by smart meters.

Amber Rudd: In order to protect consumers and ensure that they have choices over who can access their energy data and for what purposes, the Government has established a data access and privacy regulatory framework
	Energy suppliers will be able to access their own customers’ monthly consumption data for billing and for the purposes of fulfilling any statutory requirement or licence obligations. Consumers will be able to choose whether or not to permit energy suppliers to access data on their daily or half-hourly consumption of energy.
	Network operators will be permitted to access monthly consumption data for the purpose of developing and maintaining efficient, co-ordinated and economical systems for the distribution of electricity and gas. They will also be allowed to access half-hourly data for regulated purposes, such as network design, but this data will be aggregated so that individuals cannot be identified from it.
	A consumer may choose to permit a third party signatory of the smart energy code (such as an energy service company or switching sites) to access their consumption data but this access will not be permitted without explicit consumer consent.

Energy: Meters

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on the compulsory installation of smart meters by homeowners.

Edward Davey: The Government's vision is for every home and smaller business in Great Britain to benefit from smart electricity and gas meters. The Government has placed an obligation on energy companies to take all reasonable steps to install smart meters at all domestic and smaller non-domestic premises by the end of 2020.
	The rollout of smart meters will bring major benefits to consumers and the country and we expect consumers to welcome them. However, there is no obligation on customers to accept a smart meter if they do not wish to have one installed.

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many installed smart meters do not meet the SMETS 2 standard and will need to be replaced by the 2020 rollout deadline.

Edward Davey: Energy suppliers are required to install meters compliant with the Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications (SMETS) in domestic and smaller non-domestic sites by the end of 2020. Meters compliant with either SMETS 1 or SMETS 2 standards will not need to be replaced by the end of 2020. As the SMETS 2 standard is not yet in force no installed smart meters currently meet it.
	Each energy supplier reports the number of smart meters it has installed and is operating to DECC and includes both meters that are SMETS compliant, and those they expect to upgrade to become SMETS compliant. The Department publishes Industry Aggregate statistics:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/smart-meters-statistics.
	Suppliers have indicated that most of the smart meters they have already installed will need to receive software updates before they are fully SMETS compliant. In most cases they expect to provide the updates remotely and without needing to replace the meter physically.

Energy: Meters

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the average cost of installing (a) an electricity smart meter, (b) a gas smart meter, (c) an electricity advanced meter, (d) a gas advanced meter, (e) electricity smart-type meters and (f) gas smart-type meters in (i) domestic properties and (ii) small non-domestic properties.

Edward Davey: The following cost estimates are taken from the smart metering impact assessment from January 2014.
	
		
			 Item meter type Estimated installation costs (£) 
			 (a) Electricity smart (in domestic or non-domestic premises) 29 
			 (b) Gas smart (in domestic or non-domestic premises) 49 
			 (c) Electricity advanced (in non-domestic premises) 136 
			 (d) Gas advanced (in non-domestic premises) 136 
		
	
	We do not have separate cost estimates for smart-type meters (i.e. non SMETS-compliant meters installed in domestic premises) since they fall outside of the roll-out obligation.

Energy: Meters

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which companies that make smart meters are approved to fit them under the Government's rollout scheme.

Amber Rudd: Energy suppliers will determine which meter manufacturers to contract with and who should install the meters according to their own commercial procedures. The purchase and installation of smart meters is a matter for energy suppliers provided they are compliant with the smart metering equipment technical specifications (SMETS).

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the proportion of properties in which the costs of installing a smart meter will outweigh the benefits.

Amber Rudd: The Government’s Smart Metering Impact Assessment estimates a net present value benefit of £6.2 billion based on present value costs of £10.9 billion and present value benefits of £17.1 billion for an appraisal period up to 2030.
	The modelling underlying the cost benefit analysis for smart metering considers the impact on the average household.
	Our modelling approach does not allow us to estimate the proportion of properties where the costs of installation could exceed the benefits.

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the progress made by suppliers and installer of smart meters on finding a solution for hard to install properties.

Amber Rudd: The Government has mandated energy suppliers to have completed the rollout of smart meters to all domestic and smaller non-domestic premises by the end of 2020. Energy suppliers are undertaking site surveys and analysing installations completed during the current foundation stage of the programme to determine the most effective solutions to reach all premises. As part of the Smart Meter Implementation Programme governance arrangements, an Operational Delivery Group is identifying and agreeing common approaches to installations as a means of ensuring a consistently good consumer experience across the rollout.

Energy: Meters

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what contingency plans his Department has in place if the deadline for SMETS 2 is not met.

Amber Rudd: We published an update to the second version of the Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications (SMETS2) on 10 July 2014. This provides manufacturers with a stable baseline to proceed with development and testing of SMETS2 meters in time for initial DCC operations in Q4 2015.
	Meters compliant with SMETS1 are currently being installed. SMETS1 installations will continue at least until SMETS2 meters are available. We will consult with stakeholders before withdrawing SMETS1.

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) new, (b) pending and (c) live non-domestic green deal plans there are.

Amber Rudd: Up to the end of May 2014, there were no non-domestic Green Deal Plans at any of these stages, because the focus of Green Deal to date has been on the domestic sector. The Government is, however, committed to encouraging energy efficiency in the non-domestic sector through a variety of schemes, with action not limited to the framework provided by the Green Deal. Other key policy instruments include the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and Climate Change Agreements (providing financial incentives for energy efficiency), and the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (requiring energy audits of all large enterprises every four years).

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many green deal assessments there have been in the non-domestic sector.

Amber Rudd: Up to the end of May 2014, 63 non-domestic Green Deal assessments had been lodged in Great Britain. This is a relatively low number compared to the 234,050 domestic Green Deal assessments to the same date and demonstrates that the focus for Green Deal to date has been on households.
	The Government is, however, committed to encouraging energy efficiency in the non-domestic sector through a variety of schemes, with action not limited to the framework provided by the Green Deal. Other key policy instruments include the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and Climate Change Agreements (providing financial incentives for energy efficiency), and the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (requiring energy audits of all large enterprises every four years).

Green Deal Scheme

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many non-domestic customers have taken out a Green Deal loan.

Amber Rudd: There have been no non-domestic customers with Green Deal plans because the focus of Green Deal to date has been on the domestic sector. The Government is, however, committed to encouraging energy efficiency in the non-domestic sector through a variety of schemes, with action not limited to the framework provided by the Green Deal. Other key policy instruments include the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and Climate Change Agreements (providing financial incentives for energy efficiency), and the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (requiring energy audits of all large enterprises every four years).

ICT

Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and laptops were lost by his Department in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.

Amber Rudd: The following items were lost or stolen:
	2013
	computers (including laptops)—five
	mobile phones—0
	BlackBerry—seven
	2014 up to 9 July
	computers (including laptops)—three
	mobile phones—0
	BlackBerry—0

Natural Gas: Storage

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the effects of the changes made by the Valuation Office Agency to rates for gas storage facilities on security of supply and price stability in the UK.

Matthew Hancock: Business rates are only one part of a suite of costs faced by gas storage operators and the impact of business rate changes on gas storage sites can only be understood when compared to commercially sensitive information about each gas storage site, to which the Government does not have access. It is not feasible to assess the impact of rate changes in isolation and for this reason we have made no such assessment.

Natural Gas: Storage

Dan Byles: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Valuation Office Agency about changes to the rates for gas storage facilities.

Matthew Hancock: There have been no discussions between DECC Ministers and representatives of the Valuation Office Agency regarding changes to the business rates for gas storage facilities.
	It is for the Valuation Office Agency to set business rates in accordance with the relevant legislative framework.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of implementing the Government's strategy for maximising economic recovery from the UK continental shelf will have on safety of offshore oil gas workers;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the introduction of (a) the Government's strategy for maximising economic recovery from the UK continental shelf and (b) the Oil and Gas Authority will have on the safety of offshore oil gas workers.

Matthew Hancock: The remit of the Wood Review on maximising economic recovery was to consider how economic recovery of oil and gas could be maximised from the UK Continental Shelf. In doing so, the review did not directly cover health and safety. In maximising economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf, industry will continue to be required to fully comply with all health and safety legislation.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will publish an impact assessment of the principles of the Government's strategy for maximising economic recovery from the UK continental shelf; and what discussions he has had with (a) ministerial colleagues and (b) the Health and Safety Executive on the potential effect of the implementation of those principles and that strategy on the safety of offshore oil gas workers.

Matthew Hancock: A strategy for maximising economic recovery for the UK continental shelf will be developed as part of the Government’s implementation of the Wood Review, discussions with interested parties, including on any implications for safety, will be part of that development.

Private Rented Housing: Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2014, Official Report, column 738W, on private rented housing: energy, what system his Department has put in place to ensure that landlords comply with provisions within the Energy Act 2014.

Amber Rudd: The Government expects to begin consultation on implementation of the Energy Act 2011’s private rented sector provisions shortly. The consultation will include proposals regarding compliance.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much and what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.

Edward Davey: The Department of Energy and Climate Change entered into a contract for the provision of transactional HR and finance services in November 2013 and incurred expenditure of £0.5 million during 2013-14. This is equivalent to 0.01% of total departmental expenditure for the year. In previous years the equivalent services were provided to DECC by other Government Departments. Expenditure on these services in 2014-15 is forecast to be approximately £1.2 million and to account for a similar proportion of total expenditure.

Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies (i) have let and (ii) plan to let that are worth (A) between £1 million and £3 million and (B) over £3 million since 2010; how much his Department has spent on monitoring each such contract; and how many officials in his Department monitor each contract.

Amber Rudd: Contracts let in the core Department and non-departmental public bodies for which information is available centrally are summarised in the table below.
	
		
			 Number of contracts 
			  Let Planning to let 
			  £1 million to £3 million Over £3 million £1 million to £3 million Over £3 million 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change 21 5 0 0 
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 7 8 19 13 
			 Committee on Climate Change 0 0 0 0 
			 Coal Authority 0 0 0 0 
			 Civil Nuclear Police 11 3 1 1 
			 1 The NDA Procurement Plan includes contracts that could be removed at any period as unrequired services. 
		
	
	The information requesting how much his Department has spent on monitoring each such contract; and how many officials in his Department monitor each contract is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has devolved procurement so that units within the Department monitor their own contracts.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Amber Rudd: The following table details expenditure incurred by the Department of Energy and Climate Change for each of the financial years 2010 to 2014 with the firms listed. We do not have any record of expenditure with the firms of (d) GEOAmey; (g) Mitie; (h) Working Links (i) A4E; (j) MTC Amey; (k) GEO Group.
	
		
			 £000 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 (a) G4S — — — 1 
			 (b) Serco 24 2 18 5 
			 (c) Sodexo 2 — — — 
			 (e) Capita 128 18 7,348 7,626 
			 (f) Atos — 16 — — 
			 (l) Carillion 334,756 123,695 35,450 16,964

Renewable Energy

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will discuss with the devolved administrations measures to ensure that the proportion of renewable energy produced in each jurisdiction is in line with targets set nationally.

Amber Rudd: The Department is in regular contact with the devolved administrations; all support the need to increase the proportion of our energy needs in the UK which are met from renewable sources. The UK as a whole is making good progress towards the 2020 target for 15% of our energy needs to come from renewables; we were in line with the 2011-12 interim target and are on course for the one in 2014-15.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost of claims pursuant to his Department's Feed-in Tariffs consultation launched in October 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: Following the changes made in 2011, the solar PV industry has enjoyed huge success in the UK. The industry is now worth £2.2 billion a year. This owes much to carefully-controlled Government support, and at the same time tariff changes which protected consumers from a £50 a year bill rise by 2020.
	In good faith, we proposed what we believed to be lawful changes to subsidies, in the interests principally of protecting consumers from rising bills at a time when windfall profits meant that the solar PV industry was booming, and we do not have the information necessary to estimate the value of the claims.
	There are elements of the judgment which we will be seeking permission to appeal.

Renewables Obligation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the total amount of Levy Control Framework budget spent on the Renewables Obligation in 2013-14; and what his forecast is for Renewables Obligation spend in 2014-15.

Matthew Hancock: Total expenditure on the renewables obligation (RO) in 2013-14 is estimated to be approximately £2.6 billion. This is calculated by multiplying the provisional obligation for the year, 61.5 million ROCs, by the buy-out price for that year, £42.02. The final obligation, and therefore overall spend, will not be confirmed until October 2014.
	Forecast expenditure on the RO in 2014-15 is approximately £3.1 billion. This is based on the provisional obligation for the year, 72.3 million ROCs, multiplied by this year's buy-out price, £43.30.

Solar Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the total amount of large-scale solar PV to be deployed in 2015-16.

Edward Davey: Under the proposal, it was estimated that the move to CEPs and closure of the Renewables Obligation (RO) to solar >5 MW from 1 April 2015 would lead to 2.0-4.0 GW of large-scale solar deployed under the RO by the end of 2015-16 (2.9 GW in the central scenario).
	In addition, estimates of potential deployment under Contracts for Difference (CfDs) will depend on the outcome of CfD auctions.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the evidential basis is for the statement in his Department’s Consultation on changes to financial support for solar PV that large-scale solar PV poses a substantial risk to managing the Levy Control Framework budget.

Edward Davey: The evidence is set out in the consultation impact assessment and draws on various sources, including: data from Ofgem on the amount of solar PV capacity already accredited under the RO or which has applied for accreditation; the Renewable Energy Planning Database, which contains substantial information on the solar PV development pipeline; and various industry sources suggesting that there is significant potential for further expansion in the sector before the scheduled closure of the RO in April 2017. The consultation is helping to refine the evidence and we will update our estimates of potential deployment and budget impacts in the final impact assessment.
	A copy of the consultation document and consultation impact assessment are available on DECC’s web page:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-changes-to-financial-support-for-solar-pv.

Solar Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to deliver the Government's aim of 20 GWp of solar PV by 2020.

Amber Rudd: The Government set out the measures it intends to take to promote deployment of solar PV in the UK Solar PV Strategy published in April:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302049/uk_solar_pv_strategy_part_2.pdf
	The Final EMR Delivery Plan indicated that about 11-12 GWp of solar PV could be deployed in UK by the end of the decade. Scope for more ambitious deployment, perhaps approaching 20GW early in the next decade, will be predicated on a number of factors being fulfilled, notably the sector moving towards grid parity over the next few years.

Solar Power

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has received from Ofgem and other regulatory bodies on the decision to consult on a large-scale solar PV Renewables Obligation closure grace period deadline of 13 May 2014; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: DECC works closely with Ofgem and other regulatory bodies on all matters relating to, or affecting, the Renewables Obligation (RO).

Training

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much has been spent on what (a) media training and (b) social media training for (i) him and (ii) Ministers in his Department since May 2010.

Amber Rudd: The cost for ministerial media training since May 2010 is as follows:
	Secretary of State Edward Davey—£2,160
	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Baroness Verma—£1,800
	No other media training or social media training for Ministers has been paid for by the Department in this time.

EDUCATION

Adoption and Foster Care

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent steps she has taken to improve the support provided to adopters and foster parents; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government is committed to improving support for adoptive families and foster carers. To improve adoption support, the Department for Education has committed £19.3 million to establish an Adoption Support Fund to make therapeutic support more accessible. This is currently being tested in 10 local authorities. We are piloting personal budgets for adoption support in these local authorities to give parents more choice and control over the support they receive. We have commissioned the British Association of Adoption and Fostering to develop a new tool for assessing families’ support needs. We are supporting local authorities to pilot AdOpt, a therapeutic parenting programme for adopters.
	We have extended the pupil premium, priority school admissions and funded early education for two-year-olds to children adopted from care. In addition, we have published the adoption passport, setting out information about entitlements to support, including adopters’ rights to improved adoption pay and leave from 2015.
	We are continuing to fund the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM). The IRM provides access to an independent body where services have decided not to approve an adopter or foster carer; are proposing changes to or have terminated a foster carer’s approval.
	To improve support for foster carers, the Department has taken the decision to continue to fund Fosterline which provides confidential, free advice to foster carers. We are funding the development of a new programme for foster carers of babies and very young children and an adaptation of Multisystemic Therapy, an existing evidence-based intervention, which will focus on supporting children to return home or find stability in long-term care.
	We continue to support the roll-out of evidence-based interventions such as KEEP (Keeping Foster and Kinship Carers Safe and Supported) and MTFC (Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care) to help foster carers gain the confidence and skills to care for those with complex needs.
	The Department has recently become the Government’s first foster-family-friendly employer, giving staff that foster extra support to balance their work and care responsibilities. Other Government Departments and some local authorities are now actively considering implementing similar policies.
	We have developed training materials for professionals working in fostering and adoption and delivered regional train-the-trainer events to launch them. Some fostering services plan to offer this training to their foster carers too.

Carers: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will take steps to improve the support available to young carers; and what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on improving such support.

Edward Timpson: Improving support for carers of all ages is a priority for this Government. The Department for Education has provided over £2.7 million of funding to The Children’s Society and Carers Trust over four years between 2011 and 2015 to work with local authorities and voluntary and community organisations. This has helped to promote ‘whole family’ approaches to supporting young carers and identify and share existing good practice.
	We have also made significant changes to the law relating to young carers that will take effect from April 2015. Section 96 of the Children and Families Act 2014 delivers four things: it consolidates and simplifies the legislation relating to young carers’ assessments, making rights and duties clearer to both young people and practitioners; it extends the right to an assessment of needs for support to all young carers under the age of 18 regardless of who they care for, what type of care they provide or how often they provide it; it makes it clear to local authorities that they must carry out an assessment of a young carer’s needs for support on request or when the need becomes apparent; and it provides the appropriate links between children’s and adults’ legislation to enable local authorities to align the assessment of a young carer with an assessment of the person they care for.
	These changes will work with provisions in the Care Act that also support the combining of children’s and adults’ assessments, and the draft guidance on a whole family approach to assessing and supporting adults. Together they will provide a clear legislative framework that will support local authorities to consider the needs of the whole family, deliver coordinated packages of support and protect children and young people from excessive or inappropriate caring roles.
	The legislative changes outlined above only affect young carers in England. The Department for Education has not discussed them with the Northern Ireland Executive.

Children: Disability

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to provide more effective support to children with disabilities in their formative years.

Edward Timpson: In September 2012 we introduced a new early years progress check for children at the age of two, as part of the reformed Early Years Foundation Stage. This will help to pick up potential difficulties early and ensure that support plans are in place for tackling them.
	We are working with the Department of Health to co-ordinate the new check at age two with the Healthy Child programme's health and development review at age two to two-and-a-half. The aim is to create a fully integrated early years and health review from 2015.
	This will be supported by the reforms set out in the Children and Families Act and the new 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice. These are part of wider educational reform in England to ensure that all children and young people have access to high quality teaching and equal opportunities, regardless of background or circumstance. The SEND reforms aim to join up support across education, health and care from birth to 25. Help is to be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve.
	The reforms will create a more streamlined and transparent system that gives children with SEND and their families individualised support from birth until adulthood. There will be much more of a focus on outcomes, not hours. Professionals will need to focus on the progress each child or young person makes as a result of interventions, not just how much time, resource or money is being put in to support them.
	All maintained nurseries, schools and colleges must work with their local authority to develop a ‘local offer’. This will outline all the support available across health, education and care, to children and young people with SEND and what to do if things go wrong or parents and young people are unhappy about the support they are getting.
	The new system will be introduced from 1 September 2014 with the transition from the old to the new system to be complete within three years.

Citizenship: Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to ensure that schools promote British values.

Nick Gibb: Academies, free schools and independent schools are already required to encourage pupils to respect fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
	On 23 June, we launched a consultation on proposed revised standards, which will strengthen this position by requiring these schools actively to promote these values. We expect to have the new standards in place for the start of the next academic year.
	We also plan to issue guidance to maintained schools on promoting fundamental British values, and to ask Ofsted to reinforce those expectations through changes to the inspection framework for maintained schools, academies and free schools.

Correspondence

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether she has any plans to increase the number of replies within her Department's working day standard; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has set itself the target of Ministers replying to 95% of correspondence within 15 working days. In 2013, Education Ministers responded to nearly 17,000 letters, with 66% of replies sent within 15 working days. While this was an improvement on 2012, when 55% of letters were sent within deadline, we are still some way from responding to all our correspondence as quickly as we would wish. A programme of work is under way to improve performance in all Department of State functions, including correspondence.

Education: Assessments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on the basis of what research findings the Government developed its proposals to decrease the role of coursework in GCSE and A-level curriculums.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

English Baccalaureate

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to encourage the uptake of Ebacc subjects for GCSE; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The publication of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure as part of the Department for Education performance tables since 2010 has encouraged schools to enter growing numbers of pupils for GCSEs in these core academic subjects. The proportion of pupils entering a combination of subjects amounting to the EBacc has increased from 22% in 2010 to 35% in 2013. In the same period the proportion of pupils achieving the EBacc has risen from 15% to 23%.

Female Genital Mutilation

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle female genital mutilation; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 15 July 2014, Official Report, column 636W.
	On 22 July 2014, the Government will be making a series of announcements related to tackling female genital mutilation at the Girl Summit, which will be co-hosted by the Prime Minister and UNICEF.

Free Schools

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance her Department has issued to ensure staff at free schools receive appropriate levels of background check.

Nick Gibb: Free schools, like all other state-funded schools, are required by law to carry out a range of checks on staff, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
	The Department for Education issues ‘pre-opening guidance’ to free school proposers to help them establish their schools. It includes guidance on their responsibilities for checking the suitability of staff. The guidance is published online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/mainstream-free-school-pre-opening-guide

GCE A-level

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the Government's proposed reforms to A-levels will entail that students will have to decide which subjects they wish to continue to A-levels at the beginning of Year 12 rather than later in that year.

Nick Gibb: As the first new A levels become linear from 2015, the AS will be entirely decoupled from the A level, so that the marks do not count towards the final A level grade. Students will still be able to take stand-alone AS qualifications at the end of year 12. This flexibility will help those who are unsure at the start of year 12 which subjects they wish to continue to A level. We expect teachers to help students decide whether it is right to take an AS qualification.
	The decoupling of the AS aims to end the routine and automatic external assessment of all students at the end of year 12. We believe this places unnecessary burdens on students and teachers. Those students who have made clear subject choices in year 12 will be able to use AS qualifications to add breadth to their A level studies, but will not be required to take them in all subjects.
	Schools should, as now, use their own assessments to enable students to understand how they are progressing and support them to decide what qualifications to take.

GCE A-level

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the Government's proposed reforms to A-levels, if she will bring forward safeguards to prevent students making uninformed decisions about their subject choices and being limited as to the degree they can apply for at university as a result of having to make subject decisions at the beginning of Year 12.

Nick Gibb: Schools have a duty to secure independent careers guidance for students in years 8 to 131. This should include supporting students to make informed choices about the subjects and qualifications that will support progression to university.
	New A-levels will become linear from 2015. Students will still be able to take stand-alone AS qualifications at the end of year 12. This flexibility will help those who are unsure at the start of year 12 which subjects they wish to continue to A-level. We expect teachers to help students decide whether it is right to take an AS qualification.
	Universities set their own admission requirements and are best placed to advise students on the A-level subjects needed for particular degree courses. The Russell Group has published a guide to post-16 subject choices called ‘Informed Choices’
	2
	. This includes advice on the best subject combinations for a wide range of university courses. The guide also identifies the A-level ‘facilitating subjects’ that are required more often than others, and which can help students to keep more options open.
	The Department for Education recently announced that this year’s key stage 5 performance tables would include a measure showing the percentage of A level students attaining AAB or higher in two or more ‘facilitating subjects’, as a standard of academic rigour3.
	1 www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-for-young-people-in-schools
	2 www.russellgroup.ac.uk/informed-choices/
	3 http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/download/Statement_of_Intent_2014.pdf

Haberdashers' Aske's Federation Trust

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether funding allocated by her Department to the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust is top-sliced by the trust prior to its distribution to schools;
	(2)  what proportion of the income of Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust was lost owing to fraud in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(3)  who the accounting officer was for the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13;
	(4)  for what the money defrauded from the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust was intended to be used; and from which school’s budget that money was taken;
	(5)  when her Department was first made aware of fraud within the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust; and what steps it took in response to that information.

Edward Timpson: The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust retains income to cover the costs of central services, which are attributable to all academies within the multi-academy trust. In 2012/13, this equated to £2.16 million.
	For the years in question, the amounts defrauded from the trust were:
	2010-11: £1,047,788 (3.33% of income)
	2011-12: £914,316 (1.66% of income)
	2012-13: 0
	The CEO and Accounting Officer in 2010-11 was Dr Liz Sidwell. In 2011-12 and 2012-13 it was Adrian Percival.
	The funds defrauded from the trust were intended to be used for educational purposes, in line with requirements in the funding agreement and academies financial handbook. The money was taken from the trust’s overall budget.
	The trust notified the Department for Education of the fraud on 1 November 2012. Senior officials worked with the trust immediately to assess its financial systems and risks. The Department has provided ongoing monitoring and support to ensure that the trust has taken all appropriate actions.

Languages: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will estimate the number of children who are studying a foreign language in the Brighton, Kemptown constituency; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not publish data on the number of children who are studying a foreign language in both primary and secondary schools.
	The table shows figures for pupils at the end of key stage 4 who were entered for at least one full modern foreign language GCSE in Brighton, Kemptown constituency. There are no equivalent figures for key stage 2.
	
		
			 Number of pupils1 entered for at least 1 full GCSE Modern Foreign Language qualification in Brighton, Kemptown constituency. 
			 Year: 2012/13 (final)2 ,3 Coverage: England4, state-funded schools (including Academies and CTCs) 
			   Number of eligible pupils1 Number of pupils entered for at least 1 full GCSE Modern Foreign Language qualification 
			 E14000597 Brighton, Kemptown 556 161 
			 1 Pupils at the end of key stage 4. 2 Figures for 2012/13 figures are based on final data. 3 From 2009/10 iGCSEs, accredited at time of publication, have been counted as GCSE equivalents and also as English & mathematics GCSEs. 4 The figures in this table do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. Source: National Pupil Database (2012/13) 
		
	
	Maintained secondary schools are required to teach a modern foreign language to all pupils. Research1 shows that the vast majority of primary schools across England are already teaching a modern foreign language in class time and, from September, it will become statutory for maintained primary schools to do so.
	1 CfBT Education Trust Language Trends 2013/14: The state of language learning in primary and secondary schools in England
	www.britishcouncil.org/sites/britishcouncil.uk2/files/language-trends-survey-2014.pdf

Languages: Education

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to encourage the study of foreign languages in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The new national curriculum introduces the teaching of a foreign language to Key Stage 2 (ages 7 to 11) from September 2014, which will increase the uptake of foreign languages in both primary and, over time, secondary schools. By starting languages earlier, pupils will have longer to develop their skills to a high level before continuing with language learning in secondary school. The English Baccalaureate is already encouraging more young people to take a language at GCSE level. Take up of a modern foreign language by Key Stage 4 pupils in England increased by over 20% between 2012 and 2013.
	The independent Expert Group, chaired by a leading primary headteacher, has provided links to useful resources that specifically support the introduction of a compulsory foreign language at Key Stage 2. These resources are hosted on the website of the Association for Language Learning. We are also making extensive use of social networking, including using high profile headteachers and others to raise the profile of the new curriculum, including for languages, through podcasts, webchats and blogs.
	We are also providing at least £350,000 to support training on the new national curriculum for teachers of modern foreign languages in primary and secondary schools. In addition, we have already allocated £1.9 million to teaching schools to lead curriculum change across and within their teaching school alliances. Some 46 of the projects being supported involve languages.

Mathematics: Education

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to encourage the uptake of mathematics in post-16 education; and if she will make a statement.

David Laws: We are reforming mathematics in post-16 education and have set out our ambition for the majority of young people in England to study mathematics to at least age 18 by 2020. In addition, students without at least a grade C in mathematics GCSE are now required to continue to study this vital subject within 16 to 19 education until they gain this valuable qualification.
	We are reforming A level maths to provide a better stepping stone to mathematical study at university, and we are expanding the Further Maths Support Programme to support and enhance A-level teaching. From 2017 level 3 maths will count in the 16 to 19 schools and college performance tables and in the TechBacc measure from 2016. This will recognise schools and colleges that deliver maths to age 18 effectively and ensure that maths education receives the priority it deserves.
	We are also introducing 'Core Maths' qualifications from 2015 for post-16 students who achieve at least a C at GCSE, but do not progress to A-level or AS level. These qualifications will help young people think mathematically, logically and analytically. We expect large numbers of students to elect to take these qualifications, which will be valued by employers and universities. Almost 200 schools and colleges have signed up to take part in the programme already.
	We have recently created a network of Maths Hubs, supported with £11 million over their first two years, to raise standards of maths education from the early years to age 19. One of the main responsibilities of Maths Hubs will be to support increased participation in maths to age 18 in their area.

Music: Education

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which music education hubs in England have placed the majority of their music teachers on notice of redundancy since they were first established in 2012; and which hubs do not employ their music teachers on regular terms and conditions; and what proportion of hubs such hubs represent.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not collect this information.
	Music education hubs receive Department for Education funding through Arts Council England, which manages the hubs on the Department’s behalf. Music hubs have four core roles which they are required to deliver.
	Music hubs are free to spend their funding in accordance with local needs and arrangements, and set their own employment terms and conditions.

Music: Education

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what role her Department sees for music education hubs in music curriculum teaching in schools; and how she expects those hubs to effectively fulfil their responsibilities.

Nick Gibb: The new music curriculum includes requirements for all pupils to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, to progress to the next level of musical excellence, to perform, listen to, review and evaluate music, and to sing.
	Across 2012-15, the Department for Education is providing £171 million to music education hubs, which perform four core roles designed to improve the quality and consistency of music education in England. Hubs must ensure that every child aged five to 18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching and must provide opportunities for them to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage. They are also expected to ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people and to develop a singing strategy so that every pupil can sing regularly in a choir or other vocal ensembles in their area. In addition, hubs may also provide other services, such as professional development for teachers.
	Music education hubs should work in collaboration with schools. All hubs have submitted School Music Education Plans to Arts Council England, which manages the hubs programme. These plans include, for example, how hubs are connecting with all the schools in their area, and how they are planning to provide targeted support to schools where necessary.

Parliament: Anniversaries

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether her Department is working with the History of Parliament Trust and the publishers St James's House on a publication to be published in 2015 to mark 750 years of Parliament; what reports she has received of schools being asked to contribute sponsorship towards that publication; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education is not involved with this publication, nor have we received any reports from schools regarding any such requests.
	The new national curriculum for history, to be taught in maintained schools from September 2014, includes key developments relating to the history of Parliament ranging from Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament to women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century. In addition, as part of the new national curriculum for citizenship, secondary age pupils should be taught about the development of the political system of democratic government in the United Kingdom, including the roles of citizens, Parliament and the monarch. Schools are free to choose which resources they use to teach the curriculum; the work being carried out by the Trust to educate young people about the history of Parliament through teaching resources and school competitions will help schools in teaching these key developments in British history.

Public Libraries: Electronic Publishing

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps her Department is taking to make e-books available from public libraries.

Edward Vaizey: I have been asked to answer this question on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have changed the law so that the Public Lending Right (PLR) is now extended to e-books for on-site lending. This legislation came into force on 1 July. Due to current EU copyright law it is not possible to extend PLR to remote lending at this time, however the Government will revisit the issue as part of a continuous review of e-lending, and are in contact with the EU Commission on this matter.
	The Society of Chief Librarians and the Publishers Association are currently conducting a 12 month pilot into e-lending in public libraries, working closely with four local authorities in England to carry out research into the impact of e-book lending in public libraries on authors, publishers and the library service, in order to identify a suitable and sustainable model for all stakeholders. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are in contact with the major stakeholders of this pilot, and will follow up with its findings, which are due in March 2015.

Schools: Birmingham

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Ofsted inspections were carried out in the local education authority of Birmingham in (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) straight-through, (d) nursery and (e) other schools in the academic years (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2013-14.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Schools: Discipline

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she is taking to ensure that parents of disruptive children are made fully aware of their child’s bad behaviour.

Nick Gibb: The majority of schools are safe and disciplined environments, where teachers are respected and pupils learn in an orderly environment. Nevertheless, Ofsted indicated in its 2013 annual report that there are 700,000 pupils in schools where behaviour is just not good enough.
	The Government has taken strong action to support schools in maintaining discipline and developing a culture of respect for teacher authority. In the Education Act 2011, we strengthened teachers’ powers to discipline pupils for poor behaviour. Teachers can now issue same-day detentions and search pupils for banned items. We have also provided clarity on the use of reasonable force. Earlier this year we outlined a range of tough but proportionate sanctions that teachers can use to punish poor behaviour and maintain discipline. From January 2014, Ofsted introduced ‘no-notice’ inspections for schools with behaviour issues.
	All schools must, by law, have a behaviour policy and make this known to parents, usually by placing it on the school’s website. Our advice makes clear that it is vital that the behaviour policy is well understood by staff, parents and pupils, and that it is consistently applied.
	Good schools recognise the importance of engaging parents and have developed their own approaches according to the particular circumstances of the school. In March 2014, we published a series of case studies on managing behaviour and bullying, which include examples of what good schools are doing to engage parents in a spirit of openness and shared responsibility. These case studies are published online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/managing-behaviour-and-bullying-in-schools-case-studies

Schools: Sports

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what sanctions there are for schools which fail to spend the school sport premium appropriately.

Edward Timpson: The conditions of the funding are clear; it must be spent on improving the provision of physical education (PE) and sport for the benefit of pupils so that they develop healthy lifestyles. All schools must abide by the conditions of the funding. Schools should publish on their website: the amount of grant received, how it has been spent (or will be spent) and what impact the school has seen on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment as a result.
	Schools are held accountable for how they spend their funding through Ofsted whole-school inspections. Ofsted have strengthened the coverage of PE and sport in their Inspection Handbook. Inspectors assess and report on how effectively the funding is being used to improve PE and sport provision when making a judgment on the quality of the school’s leadership and management.

Schools: Sports

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she has taken to help schools which are not spending the school sport premium appropriately.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education is working across Government and with external partners to support schools to spend the money effectively and sustainably, to improve the quality of physical education (PE) and sport provision. There are a number of case studies of best practice which can be found online:
	www.gov.uk/government/policies/getting-more-people-playing-sport#case-studies
	Ofsted has also published guidance that includes examples of effective use of the PE and sport premium.
	PE and sport organisations are offering expert advice to schools on how to ensure the greatest improvement in PE and sport provision, as well as where to seek further support at a local level. They have produced resources to help schools assess their PE and sport provision and guidance to generate action plans and how to evidence impact. Posters have also been distributed to schools to help inform effective investment into teacher professional learning and the employment of coaches. These posters capture the latest national advice and guidance, and include information to help schools maximise the investment and understand statutory obligations and minimum standards specifically around the delivery of PE and school sport.

Schools: Sports

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress she has made on improving PE and sports provision in primary schools; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Government is providing more than £450 million of ring-fenced funding for primary PE and sport through the primary PE and sport premium in the three academic years to 2015/16. We are working across Government and with PE and sport organisations to support schools to spend the funding effectively and sustainably. We have received positive reports about how schools have been spending the funding in its first year. Schools have provided professional development for teachers, deployed specialist coaches to support new activities, promoted physical activity among less active children, and increased the amount of competitive sport played.
	The Department for Education has also created a programme to train primary PE specialists. The first cohort of 120 teachers is due to start working in schools from this September. They will provide expert teaching in their school, and take a lead in promoting PE in their local area. The programme has been extended for another year, increasing the number of PE primary specialists to 240 by September 2015. It is hoped that from September 2015 many more teaching schools in the country will be able to offer this specialist course.
	Further work across Government is also improving PE and sport in primary schools. Over 17,000 primary and secondary schools across the country are taking part in the Sainsbury’s School Games. Under Primary Spaces, a National Lottery-funded programme, more than 600 schools have been awarded up to £30,000 to improve outdoor spaces for PE and sporting activities. New facilities will be installed in the first 100 schools this summer.
	PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the new national curriculum, which comes into force from September 2014. There is a greater focus on competitive sport in PE lessons and swimming, and water safety remains compulsory at primary levels.

Special Educational Needs

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions Ministers in her Department have had with local authorities on special educational needs provision in their areas; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: In recent months I have discussed special educational needs provision, and in particular the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014, with directors of children’s services, chief executive and lead members from a number of local authorities.
	On 10 July I spoke to the annual conference of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services about reforms to the special educational needs system.
	In addition, on 8 April I wrote to all local authorities about implementing the SEND reforms. A copy of my letter was published online:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send-reform-letters

Swimming: Children

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will request Ofsted to record how many children leave primary school able to swim.

Edward Timpson: There are no plans to ask Ofsted to collect this information. Ofsted inspections report on the effectiveness of teaching and the quality of schools’ leadership and management.
	Swimming is part of the national curriculum, and all pupils must be taught to swim at least 25 metres unaided and be able to use recognised swimming strokes by the end of key stage 2 (age 11). It remains compulsory in the national curriculum following the curriculum review.
	The Government has committed over £450 million of ring-fenced funding up to and including 2015/16 for primary schools to improve their provision of physical education and sport. Schools have the freedom to use the funding for additional provision for swimming but this must be for activity over and above the national curriculum requirements.

Teachers

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment she has made of the efficacy of incentives designed to keep experienced teachers in the classroom.

David Laws: Teacher retention remains high: 90% of those entering the profession are teaching one year later, and 78% are teaching after five years. Reforms to teachers’ pay mean that schools have greater flexibility to attract, retain and reward the very best teachers.
	A report by the Sutton Trust in 2011, ‘Improving the impact of teachers on pupil achievement in the UK’, concluded that a more flexible pay and promotion system would have the potential to attract and retain more high quality applicants to the teaching profession.
	We are intending to evaluate pay implementation, including the impact on teachers’ career intentions. This will begin in the autumn.

Teachers: Offences against Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2014, Official Report, column 63W, on teachers: offences against children, how many teachers have lost their job as a result of having a sexual or other relationship with a student under the age of 16 in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: The responsibility for the dismissal of teachers rests with local authorities, school governing bodies and academy trusts, who are the employers of teachers in schools. Accordingly, the information requested about the dismissal of teachers is not held by the Department for Education.
	Where a teacher has been dismissed, or resigned in the face of dismissal, as a result of serious misconduct all schools have a statutory duty to consider referring the matter to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). In such cases involving child abuse, schools have a duty to refer the teacher to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) who will share the referral with the NCTL.

Young Enterprise

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the Gateway to Growth: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2014, what steps she is taking to ensure teachers are supported to deliver the five skills called for by Young Enterprise.

Nick Gibb: The new school curriculum gives teachers more freedom and flexibility to develop their pupils’ skills and readiness for work. All state schools must offer a curriculum that is balanced, broad and which prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
	Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, individual teachers and heads, as they are in the best position to make judgments about their requirements.

Young People: Training

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of the core target group of 16 to 19-year-olds have (a) applied for and (b) been accepted onto a traineeship to date.

Nicholas Boles: Only young people who meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Traineeships Framework for Delivery can take up a traineeship. For 2013/14, the core target group for traineeships are young people aged 16 to 23 who:
	1. are not currently in a job and have little work experience, but who are focused on work or the prospect of it;
	2. are 16 to 19 and qualified below level 3 or 19 to 23 and have not yet achieved a full level 2; and whom
	3. providers and employers believe have a reasonable chance of being ready for employment or an apprenticeship within six months of engaging in a traineeship.
	The Department for Education does not collect information centrally on traineeship applications in the same way that the Department does not collect data on applications for other pre-employment training provision.
	In June, we published data showing that there were 7,400 traineeships starting between August 2013 and April 2014—the first nine months of the programme. We do not yet have reliable data to break this down by age-range and we do not collect information on the number of unsuccessful applications.
	Further information on traineeships data is published online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-other-statistics-and-research

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many new apprenticeship starts there were in each year since 2010, in the age groups (a) 25 to 34, (b) 35 to 44, (c) 45 to 59 and (d) and over 60.

Nicholas Boles: Information on apprenticeship starts by age is published in a supplementary table, entitled ‘Breakdown by geography, equality & diversity and sector subject area: starts 2002/03 to 2013/14’, to a Statistical First Release (SFR):
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324021/apprenticeships-starts-by-geography-learner-demographics-and-sector-subject-area.xls

Arms Trade: Northern Ireland

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value of Northern Ireland's defence and security exports was in 2013.

Matthew Hancock: We do not hold any figures by region, only for UK as a whole.
	UK defence and security exports in 2013 totalled £13 billion, which represents a 13% increase on the previous year.

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Jo Swinson: The Department does not maintain a central register but an analysis of the departmental financial system and records identified that since 2010, the following duplicate payments were made and recoveries undertaken:
	2010/11: £0
	2011/12: £0
	2012/13: £726 of which all was recovered
	2013/14: £1,835.40 of which all was recovered

Glass: EU Law

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect on the competitiveness of the British glass, manufacturing, ceramics and mineral products industries of not being eligible for the compensation scheme for the carbon price floor; and whether he has discussed this issue with the European Commission;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission about inclusion of the glass manufacturing industry in Annex II to the Certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post-2012; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with the European Commission about the compensation scheme for the carbon price floor and inclusion of the glass manufacturing industry in Annex II to the Certain State aid measures in the context of the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme post-2012; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: BIS Ministers have met with the European Competition Commissioner and have argued the case for including parts of the glass and ceramics sector as well as the cement sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Floor compensation, highlighting the issues of competitiveness.
	The Government understands fully concerns about the impact of the these guidelines on UK companies in these sectors and will be engaging further with the Commission to seek a review of the list of eligible sectors to include other energy intensive industries in the compensation schemes in the future.

Healthcare UK

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what services Healthcare UK offers to organisations based in the devolved regions.

Matthew Hancock: As a constituent part of UK Trade and Investment, Healthcare UK has responsibility for the provision of support and assistance to new and existing health care exporters of goods and services across the UK and for promoting the UK and all its constituent parts to foreign investors.
	The devolved Administrations are responsible for devising and implementing additional programmes to meet the particular needs of companies based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and for promoting Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to foreign investors.

Higher Education: Females

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of those who accepted a university place to study (a) engineering, (b) technology, (c) mathematics and computer science, (d) architecture and (e) physical science were female in each of the last five years.

Greg Clark: The information is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Percentage of accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK who were female, for selected subjects, 2009 to 2013 
			  Year of entry 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Engineering 12 12 12 13 13 
			 Technologies 22 18 18 16 20 
			 Mathematics and computer science 22 22 22 21 20 
		
	
	
		
			 Architecture, building and planning 30 30 32 34 34 
			 Physical sciences 40 40 40 39 39 
			 Source: UCAS annual pivot tables.

Post Boxes

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of post boxes that have been decommissioned since the privatisation of Royal Mail;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the procedures for consultation before the decommissioning of post boxes by Royal Mail;
	(3)  if he will make representations to Royal Mail on the need to conduct local consultation prior to the decommissioning of post boxes;
	(4)  if he will place in the Library all data he holds on the effect of the decommissioning of post boxes on (a) elderly and (b) disabled people.

Jo Swinson: Providing Royal Mail maintains its network of access points in accordance with the framework set by Ofcom, the postal regulator, decisions relating to local post boxes are made on operational grounds by Royal Mail's management. The company's decisions are not subject to a consultation procedure though it does have a system of notifying and advising customers where the removal or relocation of a post box is considered necessary.
	Following a consultation last year, Ofcom enhanced regulatory protection to cover all UK addresses. This was based on extensive market research to inform its understanding of the reasonable needs of postal users. Royal Mail is now required to ensure that there is a post box within 0.5 miles of at least 98% of delivery points (i.e. addresses) nationally; and for the remaining 2% of delivery points, Royal Mail must provide or procure the provision of access to the universal service by other means (for example, collection on delivery from very remote or isolated locations such as farmhouses) to meet the reasonable needs of users. Ofcom monitors Royal Mail's national provision of access under this framework.
	Royal Mail is currently exceeding the agreed level of provision on a national basis.

Property Searches

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-businesses currently providing local land charges searches.

Matthew Hancock: Land Registry officials have engaged bodies that represent a range of small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-businesses throughout the research into local land charges, during the year-long prototype in 2012-13. These bodies include; the Council of Personal Search Organisations, which is a trade organisation, the Association of Independent Personal Search Agents, together with a number of personal search companies. This engagement will continue throughout the development of the policy.

Research: Middle East

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assistance the UK has given to the developments of the SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) project; and what collaborative scientific research projects the UK supports between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

Greg Clark: The UK became an observer member of the SESAME Interim Council in 2001. Professor Samar Hasnain of Liverpool University has represented the UK Government at the SESAME Council, following his appointment in 2004. The Government has provided funding since 2008/09 to Professor Samar Hasnain to support his role as the UK’s representative on the SESAME council as follows:
	2008/09 to 2013/14: £15,000 per annum
	Additional funding of £22,000 per annum was recently approved following a review of the project for the financial years 2014/15 to 2015/16
	Professor Samar Hasnain in his role as an observer undertakes various activities on behalf of the Government for the progress of SESAME including:
	Representing the Government at the Interim Council meetings
	Producing an annual report on SESAME and its benefits to the UK; and
	Spreading awareness of the existence and desirability of SESAME to existing and potential SESAME member countries.
	He is also an active member of the Science Advisory Committee which meets twice a year.
	This Department does not currently fund any other collaborative scientific research projects between Israel, Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

Royal Mail

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his letter of 2 May 2014 which was placed in the Library, on what date agreement was reached with each of the pilot fishing investors in Royal Mail on share allocations.

Matthew Hancock: The allocations to pilot fishing investors was finalised for all these investors on 8 October 2013.

Royal Mail

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 292W, on Royal Mail, from which directorate each member of staff working on the privatisation of Royal Mail was drawn.

Matthew Hancock: The core team of 17 people working on the sale of Royal Mail shares comprised staff from the Shareholder Executive. Staff in other BIS directorates contributed to the work—primarily from legal directorate, finance directorate, press office, and economics and markets directorate.
	The project received scrutiny outside BIS from the Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Authority and a Treasury Approval Point panel.

Royal Mail

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 292W, on Royal Mail, by what date he expects to make a decision on whether a discretionary payment will be made; and whether he expects this decision to be made after the report of Lord Myners on the privatisation of Royal Mail has been submitted.

Matthew Hancock: No decision has been made about the payment of the discretionary element of the fee and we have not set a timetable for making the decision. We will consider a number of factors when deciding whether to award this.

Science: Northern Ireland

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what work the Life Science Investment Organisation is doing to promote the life sciences sector in Northern Ireland.

George Freeman: The Life Sciences Organisation (LSO) (previously the Life Sciences Investment Organisation, which now includes responsibility for UK trade promotion) works to promote the UK Life Sciences sector as a whole. LSO works closely with Invest Northern Ireland, along with the other devolved bodies and local enterprise partnerships across England, to understand the nation’s internationally competitive commercial offers in life sciences. We then actively market these strengths using our international network of investment advisors and suite of promotional materials. Where potential investors have specifically stated particular requirements, we will match these to the various regional offers and bring these out clearly in the tailored proposition materials produced for the investors.

Staff

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 5 June 2013, Official Report, column 1152W, on buildings, how many members of staff are employed at each of his Department’s office premises.

Jo Swinson: The following table shows how many members of staff are currently employed at each of the Department’s office premises (these include core BIS and UKTI staff only).
	
		
			 BIS office Location Region Number of staff 
			 1 Victoria Street London London 2,613 
			 St Pauls Place Sheffield South Yorkshire 232 
			 Alexandra House Leeds West Yorkshire 16 
			 Apex Court Nottingham East Midlands 29 
			 Arndale Tower Manchester North West 20 
			 The Axis—Birmingham Birmingham West Midlands 5 
			 Bridge House Guildford South East 10 
		
	
	
		
			 Cannon House Birmingham West Midlands 0 
			 Castle View House Runcorn North West 9 
			 Companies House Cardiff Wales 49 
			 Europa House Glasgow Scotland 26 
			 Exchange House London London 21 
			 IOS Manchester Manchester North West 17 
			 Larkhill Wiltshire South West 16 
			 Moongate House Gateshead North East 18 
			 Mowden Hall Darlington North East 9 
			 NTI Building Birmingham West Midlands 0 
			 Queensway House Billingham North East 1 
			 Stanley Barracks Dorset South West 12 
			 Stella House Newcastle North East 4 
			 Temple Quays Bristol South West 15 
			 Warrington Warrington North West 6 
			 Victoria House London London 34 
			 Westfield House London London 0

Students: Loans

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on privatising part or all of the Student Loan book before May 2015.

Greg Clark: This Government has sold £160 million of mortgage-style student loans on the condition that no terms of the loans can be changed. This follows the previous Government’s record of selling £2 billion of mortgage-style student loans. At autumn statement 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113, the Government committed to selling the pre-Browne Income Contingent Student Loan Book in a number of tranches, with a first sale intended to occur by the end of financial year 2015-16. There are no plans to conduct a sale during this Parliament.

Sunday Trading

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff (a) in his Department and (b) its executive agencies are currently working wholly or in part on the issue of Sunday trading.

Jo Swinson: The information is as follows.
	(a) No staff in BIS are currently working full time on the issue of Sunday Trading. There are two policy staff and one lawyer that have Sunday Trading as part of their wider portfolio e.g. providing briefing on policy and employment aspects, answering PQs, drafting responses to Bill amendments and information requests, providing correspondence advice. In addition there are two staff that deal with standard correspondence some small proportion of which will include responding to letters referring to Sunday Trading legislation.
	(b) We are not aware of any staff in Executive Agencies of BIS that are specifically assigned to work on the issue of Sunday Trading.

Sunday Trading

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what studies, statistics or other briefings have been commissioned or purchased by his Department on the issue of Sunday trading in the last 12 months.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not commissioned or purchased any studies on the issue of Sunday Trading in the past 12 months.

Sunday Trading

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the most recent impact assessment his Department has carried out on the issue of Sunday trading.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) undertook an assessment in relation to Sunday Trading legislation which was published in May 2012 alongside the Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill, though this was not a formal impact assessment. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) looked at retail trade evidence during the Olympics suspension.
	Prior to this BIS carried out a thorough review of the 1994 legislation (including a consultation and an independent economic cost benefit analysis) in 2006.

Takeovers

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions and meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have held with the European Commission on takeovers and public interest tests since 20 April 2014.

Jo Swinson: Ministers and officials frequently have conversations with the European Commission on a range of issues. Since 20 April 2014, this issue was discussed at a meeting between officials on 16 May 2014.

Technology Strategy Board

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the expenditure was of the Technology Strategy Board in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales in each of the last three years.

Greg Clark: Technology Strategy Board expenditure, including its support for Catapult centres, in each of the last three years in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales was as follows:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Fiscal Year England Scotland NI Wales 
			 2011/12 210.38 8.64 2.32 3.49 
			 2012/13 321.89 17.49 3.16 4.18 
			 2013/14 378.46 44.35 7.05 6.45 
			 Total 910.73 70.48 12.53 14.12

JUSTICE

Cybercrime

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that online theft is punishable in line with traditional theft of items of the same monetary value.

Michael Penning: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I him on 21 July 2014, Official Report, column 854W.

Homicide: Victim Support Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2014, Official Report, column 305W, on Homicide: victim support schemes, how many victims bereaved by homicide received support from the National Homicide Service in England and Wales in each year since May 2010.

Michael Penning: On the basis of information supplied by Victim Support, the information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Number of individuals referred to the Victim Support Homicide Service by the police, and through the FCO (where the homicide occurred abroad), for support where consent for contact by the Service was given by the individual 
			 2010-11 1443 
			 2011-12 1292 
			 2012-13 1080 
			 2013-14 1542 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice is committed to supporting people bereaved by homicide and is currently providing £2.85 million per year nationally to provide this support. This includes £100,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for those bereaved by a homicide abroad. This support includes a range of emotional and practical support including counselling, funeral arrangements and peer support.

Land

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much land his Department has released for the purpose of building new homes since May 2010.

Shailesh Vara: The Department is committed to disposing of surplus property assets expeditiously. Since the start of the spending review (SR10) the size of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) estate has reduced by over 600 properties to nearly 1,500 properties. The MOJ has already released land suitable for 1,253 housing units and in 2014-15 we are expected to release land suitable for a further 300 units. Therefore we will comfortably exceed our SR10 target of releasing land suitable for 1,262 housing units.

Legal Aid Scheme

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of extending entitlement to (a) legal aid and (b) remission from court costs to all claimants of universal credit once universal credit has been fully rolled out.

Shailesh Vara: The information requested is contained in a letter that I sent on 10 June to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms) in response to his earlier parliamentary question on the same subject. That letter has now been deposited in the Library of the House. (Deposit Reference: DEP2014-1040)

Legal Systems: Islam

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Law Society on its inclusion of Sharia succession rules in its guidance; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the Law Society's inclusion of Sharia succession rules in its guidance and its compatibility with existing equalities legislation;
	(3)  what guidance judges will receive on settling inheritance disputes which were initially settled under the Sharia succession rules guidance issued by the Law Society.

Shailesh Vara: Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.
	The legal profession is independent of Government and is regulated by approved regulators for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility. The Law Society is the approved regulator for solicitors under the Legal Services Act 2007. On 13 March it published a practice note on Sharia succession rules to assist its members preparing wills for clients under the law of England and Wales. The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with The Law Society about its practice note. It is not for the Government to comment on the compatibility of the guidance with equalities legislation as the courts in England and Wales interpret and apply the law.
	The guidance does not, and cannot, change the law of England and Wales. The courts will continue to apply the law of England and Wales relating to the making of wills in exactly the same way as they did before the practice note was issued.
	The judiciary of England and Wales is independent of the Government and it would not be appropriate for the Ministry of Justice to issue guidance to the judiciary on how judges are to apply or interpret the law.

Legal Systems: Islam

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is continuing to endorse the Law Society practice note on Sharia succession rules; and whether such an endorsement is compatible with the SRA's obligations under the Equality Act 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Shailesh Vara: Sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and the Government has no intention to change this position.
	The legal profession is independent of Government and is regulated by approved regulators for which the Legal Services Board has oversight responsibility. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society, the approved regulator for solicitors under the Legal Services Act 2007. The SRA has advised that its recent guidance issued on the drafting and preparation of wills relates to conduct issues concerning the drafting and preparation of wills, rather than their content. At the end of that guidance, reference was made and links attached to other sources of information, amongst which was a link to the practice note issued by the Law Society. The SRA advise that such references are regularly attached to their guidance and are not an endorsement of their content. The SRA advise that the reference to the Law Society practice note has now been removed from the appendix to its guidance note.

Ministers: Official Cars

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many journeys Ministers of his Department have made using the Government Car Service; and how many such journeys were for the transportation of a red box.

Shailesh Vara: For the period of 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 inclusive there was:
	
		
			  Number of journeys 
			 On demand journeys—Ministers 331 
			 Red Box movements 22 
			 Total 353 
		
	
	The total spend for the use of Government Car Service has reduced from £310,600 in 2008-09 to £28,739 in 2013-14, a reduction of 91%.

Morecambe

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate how much money his Department has spent in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency since May 2010.

Michael Penning: The information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

National Offender Management Service

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department has allocated additional financial resources to the New Offender Management Service to provide safe conditions for offenders following the recent increase in the prison population.

Andrew Selous: The National Offender Management Service is subject to review throughout the year to address additional expenditure as part of regular budget discussions.

National Offender Management Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how much the National Offender Management Service has spent on (a) temporary and (b) agency staff in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014 to date;
	(2)  how many (a) temporary and (b) agency staff were working in NOMS on 1 July (i), 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

Andrew Selous: It has not been possible to answer this question within the allotted timeframe. I will write to the right hon. Member.

Open Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of prisoners who were given a life sentence (a) applied for and (b) were refused category D prison status in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of prisoners who were given an indeterminate sentence for public protection (a) applied for and (b) were refused category D prison status in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: An indeterminate sentence prisoner (ISP) (that is, one serving either a life sentence or an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPPs)) may be considered for transfer to open conditions as part of the prisoner’s parole review.
	The decision whether to transfer an ISP to open conditions is taken by officials on behalf of, and under agreed delegated authority from, the Secretary of State. However, as a matter of policy, the Secretary of State usually invites the Parole Board to consider the prisoner’s suitability for such a transfer to and to advise him accordingly. Officials will either accept or reject any recommendation made by the Parole Board, in accordance with agreed policy.
	ISPs may also apply to progress to open conditions without a positive recommendation from the Parole Board being sought, where they can show exceptional progress in reducing their risk. Each application is determined by officials on its merits, again under agreed delegated authority.
	We hold centrally data on the number of ISPs whose cases were referred to the Parole Board to consider suitability for transfer or were considered for transfer to open conditions without a positive recommendation from the Parole Board. We also hold data on the number of cases considered suitable for transfer. However, we do not hold data on the number of ISPs who were considered by the Parole Board and were not considered suitable for transfer to open conditions.
	In order to provide this information, we would need to undertake a manual trawl of ISP cases, and such an exercise would incur disproportionate cost.

Parole

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases remained unprocessed by the Parole Board on 1 (a) January, (b) April, (c) July and (d) October in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012, (iv) 2013 and (v) 2014.

Andrew Selous: The volume of indeterminate sentence prisoners (ISP) cases to be reviewed on the dates requested is set out in the table below—the figure for 1 July 2014 is not yet available.
	
		
			  1 January 1 April 1 July 1 October 
			 2009 — 1,832 1,949 2,148 
			 2010 1,596 1,757 2,079 2,070 
			 2011 1,702 1,420 1,486 1,440 
			 2012 1,396 1,601 1,570 1,627 
			 2013 1,447 1,323 1,449 1,299 
			 2014 1,756 2,022 — — 
		
	
	The Parole Board is committed to working in an effective and efficient manner in order to reduce the backlog of outstanding cases. The board is developing a new operating model in order to respond to the requirement to hold an increased number of oral hearings following the Supreme Court judgment in Osborn, Booth and Reilly. To support this work, we have increased the Parole Board’s resource allocation from £10.85 million in 2013-14 to £13.8 million in 2014-15.

Police: Trials

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department has taken to tackle trials cracking due to non-attendance of police officers as witnesses.

Shailesh Vara: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on cracked trial hearings does not include details regarding the occupation of absent witnesses. It is not possible to separately identify trials which crack due to police officers failing to attend court as witnesses. On the occasions when non-attendance of a police officer is the cause, we would expect the prosecutor to raise the matter with the Police force in question. Issues with police witness non-attendance should be discussed by the relevant Local Criminal Justice Board as part of their performance discussions.

Prison Service

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the staffing numbers were for each prison in England and Wales for each grade of staff on the latest date for which figures are available; and what the target staffing figure is for each grade in each establishment as set by the Business Development Group's Benchmarking Project.

Andrew Selous: It has not been possible to answer this question within the allotted timeframe. I will write to the right hon. Member.

Prisoners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total (a) population and (b) usable operational capacity in the adult male secure estate was in each month since August 2013.

Andrew Selous: Prison population and capacity information for every prison in England and Wales, as well as the total population and usable operational capacity of the prison estate is published monthly on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2014
	We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts and to do so in a way that gives taxpayers the best possible value for money. We are planning to open an additional 2,000 places over the next nine months. We will have more adult male prison places at the end of this Parliament than we inherited. In the next Parliament, we will open a new prison in Wrexham, providing a further 2,000 places.

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many female born prisoners have self-declared transgender status since 2011;
	(2)  how many male born prisoners have self-declared transgender status since January 2011.

Simon Hughes: There are no central records of the number of prisoners who have self-declared a transgender status.

Prisons: Civil Disorder

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times the National Tactical Response Group (NTRG) was called out in each month in 2014 to date; and to which prison the NTRG was called out in each case.

Andrew Selous: It has not been possible to answer this question within the allotted timeframe. I will write to the right hon. Member.

Prisons: Discipline

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent on independent adjudicators in each public and private prisons and young offender institution in each month since January 2013.

Jeremy Wright: Independent Adjudicators are District Judges or Deputy District Judges who attend establishments when necessary to hear more serious cases. Where a replacement judge needs to sit in court to replace one attending a prison the cost of the replacement judge is charged on a quarterly basis by HM Courts Service to the National Offender Management Service. The charge varies according to time involved.
	The information in the table shows the monthly charges paid for the use of independent adjudicators in all prisons in England and Wales including Young Offenders Institutions for the period January 2013 to March 2014. Details for the months April 2014 to present are not yet available.
	The cost per visit can vary due to several factors, including distance travelled, overnight accommodation where necessary, and the number of establishments visited on a single journey. Charges are made on the basis of visits and not adjudications, so a single visit may include several adjudications taking place at the same establishment.
	The cost of annual Adjudication charges in 2013-14 was 22% lower than the cost in 2009-10.
	
		
			 Costs of Independent Adjudicators attending prisons in England and Wales including fees and travel costs from January 2013-March 2014 
			 £ 
			  2013 
			 Establishment January February March April May June July August 
			 Albany - - - - - - - - 
			 Altcourse (P) - 596.02 545.32 525.36 - - - - 
			 Ashfield (P) 513.82 513.82 513.82 525.36 - - - - 
			 Askham Grange - - - - - - - - 
			 Aylesbury (YOI) 2,058.46 513.82 1,594.14 1,055.37 1,576.08 1,050.72 1,834.58 1,050.72 
			 Bedford 513.82 513.82 41.40 532.48 525.36 645.56 566.76 637.86 
			 Belmarsh - 563.30 - - - - - 543.36 
			 Birmingham (P) 15.30 - 30.60 30.60 626.36 30.60 30.60 30.60 
			 Blantyre House - - - - - - - - 
			 Blundeston 609.22 513.82 609.22 1,241.52 525.36 620.76 525.36 619.76 
			 Brinsford (YOI) - 513.82 571.42 - 808.76 65.00 57.60 - 
			 Bristol 45.80 45.80 45.80 - - 16.29 - 525.36 
			 Brixton 538.82 - - 14.40 - 669.26 - - 
			 Bronzefield (P) 567.10 - 28.08 573.56 - - 14.04 - 
			 Buckley Hall 129.60 64.80 64.80 64.80 - 64.80 129.60 64.80 
			 Bullingdon - - 554.32 - - 565.86 55.80 525.36 
			 Bullwood Hall - - - - - - - - 
			 Bure - - - - - - - - 
			 Camp Hill 205.80 - - - - - - - 
			 Canterbury - - - - - - - - 
			 Cardiff - - - - 114.64 525.36 - - 
			 Channings Wood - - - - - - - - 
			 Chelmsford 513.82 - - - - - 32.40 576.56 
			 Coldingley 533.72 513.82 25.20 28.09 - 33.13 - 19.62 
			 Cookham Wood (YOI) - - - - - - - - 
			 Dartmoor 513.82 513.82 513.82 2,188.37 525.36 525.36 46.80 914.51 
			 Deerbolt (YOI) - - 1,105.61 - - 651.36 - - 
			 Doncaster - - - - 525.36 - 46.80 46.80 
			 Dorchester 783.37 545.32 1,547.92 557.76 - 48.15 48.15 - 
			 Dovegate (P) 49.10 49.10 92.30 96.70 43.60 47.60 49.10 49.10 
			 Downview - - - - - - - 525.36 
			 Drake Hall 675.94 599.32 513.82 1,173.72 676.16 525.36 580.91 43.20 
			 Durham - - - - - - - - 
			 East Sutton Park - - - - - - - - 
		
	
	
		
			 Eastwood Park - - 513.82 - - 525.36 - - 
			 Elmley - - - - - - - - 
			 Erlestoke 513.82 - 12.60 12.60 - 537.96 608.16 - 
			 Everthorpe - - 34.50 34.50 - 34.50 3.00 35.40 
			 Exeter 1,852.84 513.82 513.82 525.36 1,295.57 525.36 64.80 525.36 
			 Featherstone 121.00 - 45.20 45.20 - 45.20 90.40 45.20 
			 Feltham (YOI) - - - - - - - 29.52 
			 Ford 584.12 - - - - 525.36 - - 
			 Forest Bank (P) 513.82 513.82 - 821.82 1,050.72 1,480.99 1,111.02 1,187.52 
			 Foston Hall 736.92 545.32 31.50 - 1,739.62 1,209.32 31.50 1,208.22 
			 Frankland - 562.07 - - - - - - 
			 Full Sutton - 64.80 560.62 1,080.82 525.36 816.96 539.76 525.36 
			 Garth 84.60 42.30 42.30 597.46 84.80 651.36 546.51 567.66 
			 Gartree - - - - - - - - 
			 Glen Parva (YOI) 513.82 64.80 64.80 - - - 68.40 68.40 
			 Gloucester 513.82 - - - - - - - 
			 Grendon - - - - - - - - 
			 Guys Marsh 8.10 582.78 177.20 1,223.04 602.97 525.36 948.32 525.36 
			 Hatfield (YOI) - - - - - - - - 
			 Haverigg 513.82 513.82 513.82 - - - - - 
			 Hewell 1,232.84 513.82 513.82 622.56 1,078.42 696.26 626.46 582.51 
			 High Point North - - - - - - - - 
			 High Point South 513.82 513.82 513.82 1,050.72 627.06 525.36 525.36 525.36 
			 Highdown - 19.80 - - - 545.66 - - 
			 Hindley (YOI) 513.82 513.82 513.82 525.36 1,071.42 546.06 112.70 546.06 
			 Hollesley Bay - - - - - - - - 
			 Holloway 596.62 513.82 - - - - - - 
			 Holme House 256.00 348.70 - 253.30 525.36 - 794.66 1,290.78 
			 Hull 61.65 - 547.42 33.60 - - 33.60 896.46 
			 Huntercombe - - 513.82 - 2,433.15 - 14.40 14.40 
			 Isis (YOI) 548.02 559.52 - 572.66 525.36 13.50 - 1,101.02 
			 Kennet - - 513.82 - - - - - 
			 Kingston - - - - - - - - 
			 Kirkham 513.82 513.82 - 525.36 - - 1,050.72 525.36 
			 Kirklevington Grange - - - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Farms (YOI) 1,027.64 513.82 513.82 525.36 2,026.72 525.36 1,050.72 1,050.72 
			 Leeds - - 1,077.64 525.36 - 577.56 - - 
			 Leicester - - - - - - 32.40 - 
			 Lewes - - - - 525.36 - - 617.16 
			 Leyhill 513.82 - - - 1,050.72 - - - 
			 Lincoln 88.05 513.82 54.00 27.00 - 27.90 28.80 - 
			 Lindholme 632.62 857.62 66.60 697.26 1,178.80 33.30 - 591.96 
			 Littlehey 1,027.64 513.82 1,027.64 1,051.72 1,050.72 1,050.72 1,050.72 2,035.48 
			 Liverpool 2,557.21 513.82 1,958.14 2,688.58 1,050.72 1,050.72 1,640.22 1,439.97 
			 Long Lartin 513.82 513.82 610.82 525.36 761.06 - 612.66 536.16 
			 Low Newton 528.21 - 531.82 18.00 577.36 14.40 17.55 14.40 
			 Lowdham Grange (P) 513.82 670.42 589.07 559.56 1,086.27 591.06 525.36 607.86 
			 Maidstone - - - - - 23.40 23.40 - 
			 Manchester 528.92 528.92 513.82 539.96 1,082.22 525.36 525.36 525.36 
			 Moorland 9.90 607.97 41.40 566.76 9.90 9.90 12.60 9.90 
			 Mount, The - - 12.60 - 25.20 - - - 
			 New Hall 513.82 513.82 - 668.96 1,292.82 594.26 1,425.12 47.70 
			 North Sea Camp - - - - - - - - 
			 Northallerton (P) - 45.00 - - - - - 45.00 
			 Northumberland - - 526.82 13.00 40.00 525.36 525.36 551.36 
			 Norwich (YOI) 513.82 513.82 513.82 1,127.22 615.36 525.36 1,136.22 525.36 
			 Nottingham 1,019.62 227.70 - 227.70 - 18.00 - - 
			 Oakwood (P) 513.82 282.00 542.62 562.26 1,208.72 633.31 632.91 698.16 
			 Onley 30.60 15.30 30.60 540.66 30.60 15.30 - 30.60 
			 Parc (P-YOI) 851.92 1,162.67 43.20 43.20 - 43.20 1,240.32 568.56 
		
	
	
		
			 Parkhurst 205.80 192.25 - - - - - - 
			 Pentonville 513.82 513.82 513.82 - - - 525.36 1,067.12 
			 Peterborough (P) 1,034.84 - 1,238.94 1,121.02 525.36 90.00 717.06 711.06 
			 Portland (YOI) 1,623.67 513.82 546.22 557.76 - 49.50 49.50 - 
			 Preston 513.82 - 513.82 - 525.36 525.36 525.36 644.16 
			 Ranby 548.02 513.82 756.82 561.36 1,361.72 54.00 579.36 579.36 
			 Reading (YOI) - 513.82 - 1,541.12 - - 36.00 21.60 
			 Risley 45.90 - - 18.00 - 22.95 - - 
			 Rochester (YOI) 1,027.64 513.82 1,027.64 525.36 1,602.18 603.66 1,721.28 1,077.72 
			 Rye Hill (P) 790.82 513.82 1,180.62 1,100.72 840.36 798.76 568.56 43.20 
			 Send - - - - - - 21.88 - 
			 Shepton Mallet - - - - - - - - 
			 Shrewsbury 662.07 1,283.82 - - - - - - 
			 Spring Hill - - - - - - - - 
			 Stafford 1,027.64 513.82 1,027.64 1,050.72 525.36 525.36 1,050.72 525.36 
			 Standford Hill 956.40 - - - - - - - 
			 Stocken 245.70 567.02 1,068.14 730.41 525.36 551.46 9.90 1,060.92 
			 Stoke Heath (YOI) 27.00 - 27.00 27.00 591.06 - - 27.00 
			 Styal - - - 597.36 - 525.36 554.06 621.69 
			 Sudbury 545.32 545.32 545.32 1,377.27 - - - 633.36 
			 Swaleside 1,027.64 513.82 1,027.67 525.36 525.36 - - - 
			 Swansea   14.10 525.36 525.36 63.00 1,136.32 43.30 
			 Swinfen Hall (YOI) 1,168.64 560.62 1,129.34 777.46 1,050.72 525.36 697.76 663.06 
			 Thameside (P) 513.82 - - 525.36 - 525.36 - - 
			 Thorn Cross (YOI) - 22.95 - - 525.36 595.11 18.00 18.00 
			 Usk/Prescoed - - - - - - - - 
			 Verne, The - 513.82 537.22 - - - - - 
			 Wakefield - - - - - - - 525.36 
			 Wandsworth 576.22 - 513.82 1,050.72 1,061.52 541.56 1,057.12 - 
			 Warren hill (YOI) 581.32 657.82 513.82 525.36 - 651.36 525.36 592.86 
			 Wayland 1,517.44 513.82 602.92 1,139.12 1,135.62 741.06 82.80 613.76 
			 Wealstun 592.42 513.82 539.02 - 525.36 1,201.92 576.66 1,194.12 
			 Werrington (YOI) - - - 525.36 - - - - 
			 Wetherby (YOI) - 615.57 - - - - 572.16 - 
			 Whatton - - - - - - - - 
			 Whitemoor - 583.17 - - 525.36 14.40 - 535.26 
			 Winchester 1,038.27 557.02 546.22 32.40 554.96 597.96 64.80 568.56 
			 Wolds - - - - - 34.50 - 525.60 
			 Woodhill - - 41.40 525.36 41.40 - - 525.36 
			 Wormwood Scrubs - - 513.82 575.56 - - - 525.36 
			 Wymott - - - 581.16 - 552.36 1,050.72 42.30 
			 Total 46,630.26 32,192.97 37,104.05 43,957.05 44,087.18 31,864.57 33,808.73 39,654.08 
		
	
	
		
			  2013 2014  
			 Establishment September October November December January February March Total 
			 Albany - 59.90 56.50 - - - - 116.40 
			 Altcourse (P) 15.75 - - - - - - 1,682.45 
			 Ashfield (P) - - - - - - - 2,066.82 
			 Askham Grange - - - - - - - - 
			 Aylesbury(YOI) 1,419.92 1,050.72 1,781.48 2,035.78 2,479.64 1,949.78 2,101.44 23,552.65 
			 Bedford 608.16 41.40 82.80 41.40 1,133.58 - 639.96 6,524.36 
			 Belmarsh - - 647.41 525.36 - 525.36 - 2,804.79 
			 Birmingham (P) 30.60 45.90 30.60 189.00 30.60 15.30 30.60 1,167.26 
			 Blantyre House - - - - - - - - 
			 Blundeston 525.36 1,241.52 - - - - - 7,031.90 
			 Brinsford (YOI) 28.80 57.60 57.60 57.60 28.80 - 28.80 2,275.80 
			 Bristol 571.16 45.80 45.80 - 45.80 - - 1,387.61 
			 Brixton - - 525.36 31.60 15.30 525.36 - 2,320.10 
			 Bronzefield (P) - - - - - 79.65 - 1,262.43 
			 Buckley Hall 64.80 64.80 129.60 - - 64.80 612.66 1,519.86 
			 Bullingdon 565.86 - 525.36 90.00 45.00 570.36 525.36 4,023.28 
			 Bullwood Hall - - - - - - - - 
		
	
	
		
			 Bure - - - 9.30 - - - 9.30 
			 Camp Hill - - - - - - - 205.80 
			 Canterbury - - - - - - - - 
			 Cardiff - - - 650.88 - 582.68 42.22 1,915.78 
			 Channings Wood - - - - - - - - 
			 Chelmsford 638.46 - - - - 525.36 - 2,286.60 
			 Coldingley 525.36 27.68 27.68 27.68 80.55 545.16 27.63 2,415.32 
			 Cookham Wood (YOI) 525.60 - 579.42 - - - - 1,105.02 
			 Dartmoor 369.15 816.51 315.70 404.00 206.20 - - 7,853.42 
			 Deerbolt (YOI) - - - 772.74 - - - 2,529.71 
			 Doncaster 46.80 94.50 - 47.25 64.80 - 47.25 919.56 
			 Dorchester 48.15 35.50 - - - - - 3,614.32 
			 Dovegate (P) 42.80 98.20 49.10 98.20 599.16 49.10 49.10 1,462.26 
			 Downview 19.80 19.80 - - - - - 564.96 
			 Drake Hall - 525.36 29.70 579.36 525.36 525.36 525.36 7,498.93 
			 Durham - - - 20.70 - 19.35 18.00 58.05 
			 East Sutton Park - - - - - - - - 
			 Eastwood Park - - - - - - 28.35 1,067.53 
			 Elmley - - - - - - - - 
			 Erlestoke - 17.10 12.60 680.57 43.65 - - 2,439.06 
			 Everthorpe 69.00 34.50 46.20 - 39.30 - 36.30 367.20 
			 Exeter - - 918.36 274.30 116.10 - - 7,125.69 
			 Featherstone 90.40 45.20 45.20 45.20 90.40 - 45.20 753.80 
			 Feltham (YOI) - 12.70 78.30 78.30 78.30 78.30 78.30 433.72 
			 Ford 525.36 - - - - - - 1,634.84 
			 Forest Bank (P) 626.06 1,668.78 540.66 1,264.92 1,165.92 1,627.62 525.36 14,099.03 
			 Foston Hall 556.86 765.26 638.76 637.86 1,236.12 679.01 1,113.72 11,129.99 
			 Frankland - - - - - - - 562.07 
			 Full Sutton 1,050.72 1,050.72 525.36 1,050.72 525.36 525.36 525.36 9,367.28 
			 Garth 567.66 - - 577.56 - - 577.56 4,339.77 
			 Gartree - - - - - - - - 
			 Glen Parva (YOI) 68.40 - 42.30 68.40 85.20 82.90 - 1,127.42 
			 Gloucester - - 68.40 - - - - 582.22 
			 Grendon - - - - - - - - 
			 GuysMarsh 606.36 14.58 565.86 13.96 - - - 5,793.89 
			 Hatfield (YOI) - - - - - - - - 
			 Haverigg - - 644.16 - - - - 2,185.62 
			 Hewell 12.60 550.56 249.26 12.60 - - 563.16 7,254.87 
			 High Point North - - - - - - - - 
			 High Point South 620.76 1,050.72 14.40 606.36 601.86 646.86 623.76 8,960.04 
			 Highdown - 19.80 1,441.77 - 531.26 - - 2,558.29 
			 Hindley (YOI) 1,092.12 546.06 525.36 1,071.42 1,145.22 1,638.18 525.36 10,886.78 
			 Hollesley Bay - - - - - - - - 
			 Holloway - 525.36 577.56 - 1,050.72 - - 3,264.08 
			 Holme House - 232.73 - - 889.26 758.66 236.56 5,586.01 
			 Hull 34.50 34.50 - 34.95 - - - 1,676.68 
			 Huntercombe 27.00 31.50 - - 14.40 - - 3,048.67 
			 Isis (YOI) - 1,708.68 - 1,235.32 563.26 525.36 525.36 7,878.06 
			 Kennet - - - 525.36 1,273.22 525.36 525.36 3,363.12 
			 Kingston - - - - - - - - 
			 Kirkham 1,050.72 525.36 - - - - 525.36 5,230.52 
			 Kirklevington Grange - - - - - - - - 
			 Lancaster Farms (YOI) 525.36 1,576.08 - 1,050.72 1,050.72 1,453.97 1,050.72 13,941.73 
			 Leeds - - - 104.40 525.36 - 525.36 3,335.68 
			 Leicester - 68.40 - - - - - 100.80 
			 Lewes - - 558.76 525.36 - - 615.36 2,842.00 
			 Leyhill - - - 90.90 - - - 1,655.44 
			 Lincoln - 30.60 552.36 27.00 27.90 - 27.90 1,405.33 
			 Lindholme 558.66 591.66 114.75 602.86 90.00 47.70 47.70 6,111.49 
		
	
	
		
			 Littlehey 525.36 1,050.72 1,337.72 525.36 525.36 525.36 1,050.72 14,349.06 
			 Liverpool 525.36 1,570.47 525.36 1,050.72 525.36 1,050.72 1,849.08 19,996.45 
			 Long Lartin 525.36 - - - - - - 4,599.06 
			 Low Newton 18.00 28.80 - - - - - 1,748.54 
			 Lowdham Grange (P) 565.86 700.96 597.36 - 604.56 620.76 36.00 8,268.92 
			 Maidstone 40.50 623.76 525.36 - - - 565.86 1,802.28 
			 Manchester 525.36 540.96 525.36 539.96 541.06 15.70 540.56 7,998.88 
			 Moorland 9.90 41.40 - - 9.90 19.80 9.90 1,359.23 
			 Mount, The - - - - 564.06 - - 601.86 
			 New Hall 573.06 47.70 573.06 573.06 555.96 573.06 525.36 8,477.76 
			 North Sea Camp - - - - - - - - 
			 Northallerton (P) - - 46.20 - - 538.36 - 674.56 
			 Northumberland 256.30 13.00 - - 538.36 - 538.36 3,527.92 
			 Norwich (YOI) 525.36 543.36 543.36 525.36 525.36 543.36 534.36 9,211.50 
			 Nottingham - 18.00 - 18.00 18.00 - - 1,547.02 
			 Oakwood (P) 582.96 611.76 790.45 86.40 115.20 - 582.86 7,843.43 
			 Onley 15.30 30.60 30.60 15.30 15.30 15.30 15.30 831.36 
			 Parc (P-YOI) 611.76 43.20 86.40 - 86.40 568.56 568.56 5,917.95 
			 Parkhurst 53.40 - - 61.00 - - - 512.45 
			 Pentonville - - 525.36 - - - - 3,659.30 
			 Peterborough (P) 90.00 7.20 525.36 200.00 100.00 100.00 727.16 7,188.00 
			 Portland (YOI) 49.50 48.60 48.66 - 148.50 - 49.50 3,685.23 
			 Preston 658.56 1,084.92 525.36 559.56 633.36 525.36 525.36 7,760.36 
			 Ranby 1,281.12 701.76 538.46 633.36 579.36 1,104.72 525.36 10,318.60 
			 Reading (YOI) - 862.21 - - - - - 2,974.75 
			 Risley - 18.00 564.51 42.30 591.06 - - 1,302.72 
			 Rochester (YOI) 552.36 2,310.99 1,591.48 1,076.82 2,294.34 1,181.12 570.36 17,676.77 
			 Rye Hill (P) 842.76 568.56 112.50 525.36 568.56 659.56 568.56 9,682.72 
			 Send - 663.96 - - - - - 685.84 
			 Shepton Mallet - - - - - - - - 
			 Shrewsbury - - - - - - - 1,945.89 
			 Spring Hill - - - - - - 525.36 525.36 
			 Stafford 1,580.82 525.36 525.36 1,650.77 525.36 1,050.72 525.36 12,630.37 
			 Standford Hill - - - - - - - 956.40 
			 Stocken 535.26 535.26 525.36 535.26 1,130.72 525.36 525.36 9,071.49 
			 Stoke Heath (YOI) - 27.00 - 27.00 51.30 - - 804.36 
			 Styal 588.36 525.36 533.46 606.36 630.66 1,050.72 - 6,233.39 
			 Sudbury 649.56 556.86 556.86 579.16 - 556.86 - 6,545.89 
			 Swaleside 40.50 48.15 555.66 45.00 45.00 1,095.72 631.16 6,081.04 
			 Swansea 598.36 568.66 626.86 40.80 634.56 43.00 565.86 5,385.54 
			 Swinfen Hall (YOI) 713.56 618.06 1,136.82 1,084.92 618.96 722.16 1,173.12 12,640.56 
			 Thameside (P) - 589.76 - - - - - 2,154.30 
			 Thorn Cross (YOI) - - - - - - 545.61 1,725.03 
			 Usk/Prescoed - - - - - - - - 
			 Verne, The - - - - - - - 1,051.04 
			 Wakefield 27.90 27.90 553.26 - - - 525.36 1,659.78 
			 Wandsworth 9.30 22.80 9.30 - 9.30 9.45 534.71 5,395.82 
			 Warren Hill (YOI) 601.86 - - 601.86 - - - 5,251.62 
			 Wayland 1,260.52 1,151.72 165.60 165.60 717.46 525.36 690.96 11,023.76 
			 Wealstun 550.56 555.06 1,276.62 550.56 525.36 1,294.27 - 9,895.75 
			 Werrington (YOI) 1,131.72 1,157.72 635.26 36.00 - 36.00 - 3,522.06 
			 Wetherby (YOI) 27.00 552.36 27.00 18.00 9.00 - 9.00 1,830.09 
			 Whatton - - - - - - - - 
			 Whitemoor 12.60 538.86 - 13.50 - - - 2,223.15 
			 Winchester 43.20 32.40 32.40 - - - 43.20 4,111.39 
			 Wolds - - - 34.50 - - - 594.60 
			 Woodhill - - - - - - - 1,133.52 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 525.36 525.36 - 525.36 548.36 - - 3,739.18 
			 Wymott - - - 834.16 - - - 3,060.70 
		
	
	
		
			 Total 31,853.65 36,015.58 30,217.23 29,941.26 31,384.42 29,518.26 29,448.77 527,678.06 
			 Notes: 1. (P) denotes private prison; (YOI) denotes Young Offender Institution/Juvenile Estate. 2. Charges are on the basis of number of visits made. 3. Camp Hill, Canterbury, Gloucester, Bullwood Hall, Kingston, Shepton Mallet and Shrewsbury closed in March 2013. 4. Dorchester, Reading and Blundeston closed in December 2013. 5. Northallerton transferred to the private sector in December 2013. 6. Wolds transferred to the public sector in July 2013.

Prisons: Security

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) key lock incidents and (b) incidents of gates or doors being left unlocked there have been in the Prison Estate in each month since January 2010;
	(2)  how many (a) external and (b) internal incidents at height there have been in the prison estate in each month since 2010;
	(3)  how many incidents of concerted indiscipline in the prison estate there have been in each month since January 2010;
	(4)  how many (a) prisoner-on-prisoner and (b) prisoner-on-staff hostage incidents there have been in each month since January 2010.

Andrew Selous: A monthly breakdown of key lock incidents, incidents at height, hostage incident and concerted indiscipline as requested can be provided but not in the time available. I will write to you as soon as this information is available.

Probation Trusts

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to paragraphs 68 and 69 of the National Framework on Staff Transfer and Protections - Staff Assignment Process - Guidance on the Application of the Sifting Criteria published in November 2013 for the Transforming Rehabilitation programme referring to the random assignment of staff, how many probation trusts used a random assignment method; which methods of random assignment were used; and how many staff were affected in each of the trusts using a random assignment method.

Andrew Selous: The probation workforce was allocated to the new organisations in line with capacity needs. This was calculated on the basis of the existing staffing requirements for the different operational functions. We worked closely with the Probation Association (representing Probation Trusts as employers) and the Probation Trades Unions on the staff allocations process, setting out a robust approach based primarily on an objective assessment of existing workloads plus expressions of interest. This was then implemented carefully and transparently by individual Trusts, in consultation with their staff and the Unions locally.
	The Probation Association prepared guidance for its members on how Trusts should allocate their staff to the new organisations. This recommended that an automatic assignment process should be applied in the first instance, and where this was not possible then local evidence-based assignment criteria should be used. In those few situations where neither process led to allocation, and only in the case of administrative support staff, then the guidance allowed for agreement on transfer to be reached on the basis of a random assignment process. This was designed to ensure that staff in similar circumstances had an equal opportunity to be assigned to either of the new organisations. The process was managed by Trusts in agreement with the Unions locally, and we do not hold figures relating to the number of Trusts which made use of a random assignment method or how many staff were affected.
	Probation staff were assigned to posts in the new organisations in the first part of the year. Where they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the process, they had a right of appeal. 4% of staff exercised that right, and 0.9% of appeals were upheld.

Religiously Aggravated Offences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of (a) offenders and (b) victims of religiously aggravated offences in each of the last five years were of each religious belief.

Michael Penning: These are despicable crimes that devastate lives and communities. Hate crimes are not acceptable and the courts hand out tougher punishments where race or religion are found to be aggravating factors.
	Data on religious belief of offenders or victims are not reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice.
	This information may be held by the courts in England and Wales but as such it can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Data on the proportion of offenders and victims may be held by individual police forces in England and Wales.

Senior Civil Servants

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many senior civil servants appointed to positions in his Department since 2010 were previously (a) political appointees within that Department and (b) employed by a political party.

Shailesh Vara: We are unable to provide the number of civil servants appointed to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) who were previously (a) political appointees and (b) employed by a political party. As this information is not held centrally, to collate this information as a whole would incur disproportionate costs.

Young Offenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young offenders have been tried before (a) adult magistrates' courts and (b) Crown courts in England and Wales in each year since 2010. [R]

Andrew Selous: The vast majority of children and young people have their cases heard by specially trained magistrates in the Youth Court.
	A child or young person may only be tried in the adult magistrates courts where they are a co-defendant with an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to keep the defendants together. Children alleged to have committed serious offences, for example homicide or offences that for an adult would result in 14 years or more in prison, are tried in the Crown Court and may also be tried there if it is in the interest of justice to keep them together with an adult co-defendant.
	Overall crime is down and fewer young people are offending. Proven offending by under-18s has reduced by 44% since 2010-11, while the number of first time entrants to the system has fallen by 39% over the same period. The number of young people dealt with in the criminal courts has also fallen, reducing by 51% between 2010 and 2013.
	Data on the number of children and young people tried in (a) the adult magistrates courts is set out at Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Young people aged 10 to 17 tried at adult magistrates courts, England and Wales, 2010 to 2013 
			  Number of young people tried at adult magistrates courts1, 2, 3, 4 
			 2010 10,401 
			 2011 10,667 
			 2012 5,463 
			 2013 5,702 
		
	
	Data on the number of children and young people tried in (b) the Crown Court is set out in Table 2.
	
		
			 Table 2: Young people aged 10 to 17 tried at the Crown Court, England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 
			  Number of young people tried at the Crown Court4, 5 
			 2010 3,002 
			 2011 2,787 
			 2012 2,367 
			 2013 1,847 
			 1 Excludes cases that were discontinued, where the charge was withdrawn, where the defendant failed to appear, and committals for trial to the Crown Court. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 A child or young person may only be tried in the adult magistrates courts where they are a co-defendant with an adult and the court has decided that it is in the interests of justice to keep the defendants together. 4 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 5 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 
		
	
	We are considering the recommendations made by the recent inquiry by Parliamentarians, chaired by Lord Carlile, including the recommendation concerning where cases involving children and young people are heard.

Young Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2014, Official Report, column 326W, on young offenders, 
	(1)  on what date each adult male establishment was first designated both as a prison and a young offender institution; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many young offenders were held in each establishment on the latest day for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous: This information is not immediately available. I will write to the right hon. Member when all the relevant information is available.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Billing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Lynne Featherstone: Duplicate payments to suppliers are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Value (£) 
			 2010-11 3,721,960.01 
			 2011-12 720,052.49 
			 2012-13 1,105,217.80 
			 2013-14 5,352,323.62 
		
	
	The proportion of duplicate payments recovered over the last four years is 98.74%.

Developing Countries: Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Southend West of 31 March 2014, Official Report, column 459W, on Developing Countries: Abortion, whether the Government's efforts to prevent sex-selective abortion includes investigating organisations that do not recognise the illegality of sex-selection abortion and may be performing such operations under the mistaken belief that they are legal.

Lynne Featherstone: Where abortion is permitted we can support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible—this may include support to increase awareness of the circumstances under which abortion is allowed. UKAID cannot be used to procure illegal services.

Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to ensure that UK aid spending is used in the manner intended.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has rigorous internal systems and processes to ensure that its aid reaches the intended beneficiaries and delivers results. A business case is mandatory for all new funding proposals, and all cases over five million pounds are approved at ministerial level. Once a programme is under way a formal review is required annually and at completion, which assesses and records whether funds have been used for their intended purposes and the results that have been delivered. Assurance that our aid money is being used for the intended purposes is gained form a number of independent providers including Internal Audit Department.
	DFID has commissioned a package of reforms to further improve programme leadership, processes and capability and strengthen our oversight of spending.

Procurement

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department paid to (a) G4S, (b) Serco, (c) Sodexo, (d) GEOAmey, (e) Capita, (f) Atos, (g) Mitie, (h) Working Links, (i) A4E, (j) MTC Amey, (k) GEO Group and (l) Carillion in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14.

Lynne Featherstone: The following table details the amounts paid by DFID to the suppliers listed above, over the periods specified.
	
		
			 £ 
			  2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 G4S 509,960 711,440 595,279 755,681 
			 Serco 1,765 Nil Nil Nil 
			 Capita 4,208,938 3,397,155 2,305,454 1,415,700 
			 Atos 6,315,202 11,141,720 16,399,297 19,381,683 
			 Mitie 1,026,152 2,448,793 2,838,096 4,256,290 
			 GEO Group 963 Nil Nil Nil

Social Networking

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many Twitter accounts are run by her Department; how much her Department spends annually on (a) Twitter accounts and (b) all social media; and how many people in her Department are employed to work on social media.

Lynne Featherstone: The Department for International Development (DFID) is currently responsible for monitoring and updating the following corporate Twitter accounts:
	@DFID_UK
	@DFID_Press
	@DFID_response
	@DFIDNepal
	@DFIDEthiopia
	@DFID_PSD
	@DFID_innovation
	@DFID research.

St Helena

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many biosecurity breaches have been reported in (a) Rupert's Valley and (b) Prosperous Bay Plain in each year since the start of the airport construction process in St Helena.

Desmond Swayne: The information is as follows:
	(a) One;
	(b) One

St Helena

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether there are any plans for beacons associated with airport construction on St Helena to be located within national conservation areas on the island.

Desmond Swayne: Navigational lights will be installed on natural obstacles within the national conservation areas on the island.
	The navigational lights will be located at The Barn, Great Stone Top, Horse Point, Bencoolen, and King and Queen's Rocks. All of these areas are within the Airport Development Area agreed by St Helena Government.

St Helena

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of the known habitat of the mole spider is estimated to have been destroyed during the construction of the airport on St Helena.

Desmond Swayne: When construction started at the airport site there were three known mole spider communities within the Airport Development Area. One community lost 0.1% of its habitat, one community’s habitat remained untouched and the final community lost 90% of its habitat. Mitigation measures were implemented to reduce the effects of the losses on this last community. This included the creation of similar habitat where subsequent monitoring shows that the mole spider has successfully migrated into this and adjacent areas.

St Helena

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the current cost is of transporting a container of goods to St Helena; and what estimate her Department has made of such a cost once the RMS St Helena is decommissioned.

Desmond Swayne: Costs of transportation depends on volume and place of origin. Expressions of interest for ocean freight services are currently being reviewed by the Saint Helena Government.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent on the VSO ICS programme in each year since 2010.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID spending on the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme since 2010 is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 1,860,025 
			 2011-12 4,849.043 
			 2012-13 21,999,068 
			 2013-14 19,863,471 
			 2014-15 14,262,167 
			 1 To date. 
		
	
	All of the spending in 2010-11, 2011-12 and £2,135,397 in 2012-13 was on the ICS pilot scheme with the remainder being the current contracted programme.
	All of this information is published on the development tracker website:
	http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/